„The common continent of men“? Die Pequod und ihre Crew als Verhandlungsraum von ,Welt‘ in Melvilles Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale

• Published in: arcadia
• Main Author: Erthel, Thomas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2016
• Subjects: White whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/arcadia-2016-0025; http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/arca.2016.51.issue-2/arcadia-2016-0025/arcadia-2016-0025.xml; https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/arcadia-2016-0025/pdf

Abstract Questioning the well-known interpretation of the Pequod as a microcosm, this article focuses on passages in Melville’s Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale in which the ship serves as an arena for testing and questioning various definitions of the ‘world.’ Starting with Ishmael’s claim that he wants to “see the world” by travelling aboard the Pequod , this article isolates different meanings of ‘world’ as they are invoked by the text – pointing to a meaning beyond the cartography of the planet earth. As will be shown, Moby-Dick distinguishes between the extrinsic perspective on planet earth, as cartography applies it, and contrasts it with a level, intrinsic perspectives that one adopts standing on the deck of a ship, looking out on the ocean. The intrinsic perspective can furthermore be related to the object of Ahab’s hunt, the white whale, which carries another understanding of ‘world’ as a deep space that cannot be grasped by cartography. In a final step, the crew and its composition of international members will be analyzed by focusing on the metaphor of the “common continent of men,” which surprisingly raises serious doubts about the unity of the Pequod ’s crew.