“Speechless, Placeless Power”: Affect and Trauma in Moby-Dick and “Bartleby, the Scrivener”

Author

Lauren ColandroFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-15-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA English

Department

English

Advisor

Mary Balkun, PhD

Advisor

Russell Sbriglia, PhD

Keywords

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Bartleby the Scrivener, affect theory, trauma

Abstract

Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick and “Bartleby, the Scrivener” contain affectively unsound figures such as Captain Ahab and Bartleby that seem to disrupt larger narrative functions, both developing these characteristics in response to prior trauma. However, narrators are not privy to the extent of their feelings because of their idealistic attachments to the disruptive figures. This thesis examines the commonalities of Melville’s disruptive characters in both stories using affect theory, as well as how their disruptions illuminate the effects of repressed trauma in an increasingly capital-driven society.

Recommended Citation

Colandro, Lauren, "“Speechless, Placeless Power”: Affect and Trauma in Moby-Dick and “Bartleby, the Scrivener”" (2023). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 3089.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/3089