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February 14, 2017, Spencer Irvine, Leave a comment

A panel of college professors claimed that Herman Melvilles books can be applied to todays issues of Black Lives Matter, Americas capitalist society and the presidency of Donald Trump. The panel discussion was held at the Modern Language Associations (MLA) annual convention in Philadelphia earlier this year.

Gary Vaughn Rasberry, an assistant professor of English at Stanford University, claimed that Melvilles books could be seen in the prism of anti-colonialism Cold War politics. He cited the likes of W.E.B. DuBois and others for their noted third-world perspectives and how it applied to today. For example, they would agree with him in that Starbucks represents liberalism. Melvilles character in Moby Dick, Captain Ahab, personifies the fascist future of the world. He continued, The paralysis of liberalism [i.e. Starbucks] faces off the face of fascism [i.e. Ahab]. He claimed, These maritime proletarians [the captains crewmen] didnt revolt because their stillborn revolt would have little meaning beyond their own self preservation in the book. Yet, Rasberry claimed, It doesnt undermine the [meaning] of the novel because it highlighted latent totalitarianism and other similar totalitarian impulses.

Christine Ann Wooley, an associate English professor at St. Marys College of Maryland, praised Black Lives Matter in her remarks. She said, In the days of the election of Donald Trump, Black Lives Matter issued a statement we fight for our collective liberationuntil black people are free, no one is free. She continued to quote their statement, where the group said, We do not and will not negotiate with fascists and racists because these words still fortify us, those reeling from the election.

Furthermore, the group claimed, Far too many white folks feel free and how economic justice [should be] fully legible to an audience. To her, this dramatizes the uncertainty of identification and yet, Melvilles works teem with examples that Black Lives Matter highlighted. Referring to the groups symbol of wearing safety pins, Wooley wondered, We may debate whether to wear safety pins after the election.

Posted in MLA. Tagged as #MLA17, academia, Accuracy in Academia, Ahab, AIA, Black Lives Matter, BLM, Christine Ann Wooley, Donald Trump, Herman Melville, Melville, MLA, MLA 2017, Moby Dick, Modern Language Association, St. Mary's College of Maryland, Stanford University, Vaughn Rasberry, W.E.B. DuBois

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Melville Mixes with Black Lives Matter and Donald Trump - Accuracy in Academia