Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works
Instead of pointing to an ideal of harmony and perpetuating a long-lasting tradition initiated by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, allusions to Greco-Roman sculpture in Melville’s works are intertwined with destructive forms of violence. By releasing the darker energies which animate the figure of Apollo...
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4886 |
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| author | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak |
| author_facet | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak |
| author_sort | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Instead of pointing to an ideal of harmony and perpetuating a long-lasting tradition initiated by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, allusions to Greco-Roman sculpture in Melville’s works are intertwined with destructive forms of violence. By releasing the darker energies which animate the figure of Apollo – a god “driven by a desire for transgression” in Marcel Détienne’s words – Melville’s writing subverts the immaculate and marmoreal antiquity fantasised by the champions of neoclassicism and opens up an unchartered territory within which agonizing pain and violence might only be glimpsed. Ancient marble works in Typee, Billy Budd or Clarel thus invite us to revisit classical antiquity in the light of its own violence, but they also unveil violence as a spectral force which resists representation and remains – almost – unspeakable. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5c15ce3419884f03ab7b9a34c9b11b21 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sillages Critiques |
| spelling | doaj-art-5c15ce3419884f03ab7b9a34c9b11b212025-01-30T13:47:56ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022017-03-012210.4000/sillagescritiques.4886Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's worksRonan Ludot-VlasakInstead of pointing to an ideal of harmony and perpetuating a long-lasting tradition initiated by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, allusions to Greco-Roman sculpture in Melville’s works are intertwined with destructive forms of violence. By releasing the darker energies which animate the figure of Apollo – a god “driven by a desire for transgression” in Marcel Détienne’s words – Melville’s writing subverts the immaculate and marmoreal antiquity fantasised by the champions of neoclassicism and opens up an unchartered territory within which agonizing pain and violence might only be glimpsed. Ancient marble works in Typee, Billy Budd or Clarel thus invite us to revisit classical antiquity in the light of its own violence, but they also unveil violence as a spectral force which resists representation and remains – almost – unspeakable.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4886violenceHerman Melvilleclassical antiquityancient sculptureneoclassicismApollo |
| spellingShingle | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works Sillages Critiques violence Herman Melville classical antiquity ancient sculpture neoclassicism Apollo |
| title | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_full | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_fullStr | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_short | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_sort | bodies in agony classical sculpture and violence in herman melville s works |
| topic | violence Herman Melville classical antiquity ancient sculpture neoclassicism Apollo |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4886 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ronanludotvlasak bodiesinagonyclassicalsculptureandviolenceinhermanmelvillesworks |