Representation of Mid-nineteenth Century American Society: A New Historicist Reading of Moby-Dick

Abstract

This research paper aims to show the representation of mid-nineteenth century American society in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. It finds out that Moby-Dick as a literary text was shaped by the culture in which it was written. Likewise, Moby-Dick, as a literary text, functions as a historical discourse interacting with other discourses. The research reveals that Ishmael, as a narrator, is neither objective nor free from prejudice rather he is guided by his cultural background. The findings of the study show a significant interrelationship between truth, knowledge and power in the process of discursive formation. The text is analyzed from the new historicist perspective of Michael Foucault, Stephen Greenblatt, Catherine Gallagher and Louis Montrose. From the new historicist perspective, the objective of the research paper is to dig out the literary representation of mid nineteenth century American society in Moby-Dick.