459. AHAB’S LEG: DISABILITY & THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION...MELVILLE’S MOBY DICK

Thomas Fahy via ZOOM 

Herman Melville’s masterpiece Moby Dick (1851) is widely considered one of the great American novels. Its sweeping examination of American culture offers a searing critique of capitalism and of a nation still struggling to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. Whether through Melville’s meditation on Native American genocide, imperial expansion, the history of slavery, religious hypocrisy, the whaling industry, and disability bias, Moby Dick invites audiences to question what it means to be American. This course will begin with several short readings—including selections from Puritan captivity narratives, Transcendentalism, and Gothic literature—to provide some background for Melville’s examination of American literary history. We will also consider some of the visual, musical, and dramatic art shaping his portrait of Ahab, his crew, and the natural world. Lastly, as part of our American Studies approach to the text, we will explore the novel’s portrait of disability and some of the complexities of—and problems with—reading the disabled body metaphorically.

(Prof. Fahy will use the Norton Critical Edition (third edition, ISBN-13 978-0571331352, publication date 11/14/2017); if you’d like, you may buy or borrow a copy of the book for reference, but a full reading of Moby Dick is not required for you to enjoy this American Studies approach to the text.)

10:00 – 12 noon                                                                                                                               6 Sessions

Fridays, May 23– June 27                                                                                                              Fee:  $160

NOTE:  A ZOOM LINK will be sent to you at least one day prior to the first day of class and again on a weekly basis prior to each successive class if there is more than one session.

A B O U T  T H E  L E C T U R E R

Thomas Fahy is a novelist, nonfiction writer, and professor of literature and creative writing. He has been widely acclaimed and has received awards for his numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, as well as his scholarly research. He has also published essays on everything from Paris Hilton and 1980s vampire films to the television series Stranger Things. His works have been translated into several languages, and he has been interviewed by Salon and other publications, as well as radio hosts in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and Malaysia. He was recently a guest on the BBC radio program “Literary Pursuits” about Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. A dynamic teacher and an expert on “all things Gatsby,” Professor Fahy brings a wide interdisciplinary knowledge to whatever he teaches.