Review of African Culture and Melville's Art
Sterling Stuckey's Cultural Analysis of Moby-Dick and Benito Cereno
Jul 29, 2009
In the past many scholars have interpreted Herman Melville's strikingly rich prose through historical, religious, or literary analogues. Sterling Stuckey, however, provides fresh insight into Melville's work by focusing on the influence of African culture evident in "Benito Cereno" and Moby-Dick.
Biographical Analysis
Searching for African touchstones in Melville's work, Stuckey takes several literary approaches. Sifting through the biographical and historical, he discovers that Melville from an early age, like most Americans, was exposed to and influenced by African-American culture, particularly song and dance. Born in 1819, Melville grew up in New York City within earshot of Broadway. There he "almost certainly" heard soulful celebrations and processions rhythmically marching for abolition. Melville also grew up only "a ten-minute walk from City Hall and the Commons" where attention-catching story-telling events, parades, and musical ceremonies such as Ring Shouts or the Pinkster festival took place.
According to Stuckey, Melville began dance lessons at the age of eight and developed a life-long passion. Melville's attention to rhythm perhaps may have been largely inspired by the African-American influence within his community. It appears that his childhood environment and circumstance helped him develop the willingness to begin sailing, to open-mindedly experience new cultures, and to eventually write masterful prose.
Intertextual References to Benito Cereno
The short-story "Benito Cereno" obviously displays aspects of African culture. Of the text's two ships one crew consists of seemingly enslaved Ashanti men and women. Stuckey, however, scratches beneath the surface and reveals through intertextual connections sources for Melville's creative process.
A Narrative of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, by Amasa Delano, a historic figure who also serves as one of the text's main characters, provides itself as a historical basis for Melville to draw from. Stuckey points out how Melville seizes upon details from the text to springboard his characterization and physical description of the title character, Benito Cereno. Deeming the Delano text particularly relevant, Stuckey includes its 16th chapter as his appendix.
Ashanti Culture and American Literature
Stuckey goes on to note the possible connections between "Benito Cereno" and Joseph Dupuis's Journal of a Residence in Ashantee. From this non-fiction account of African culture, Melville may have found the inspiration for the story's menacing hatchet-polishers and warrior king, Atufal.
Furthermore, the "Follow Your Leader" motif that threads the story, according to Stuckey, may result from T. E. Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee. This text accounts for the Ashanti custom of sacrificing the king's servants, a macabre ritual which seems to manifest in "Benito Cereno" through the symbol of the skeleton figurehead and its constant and ominous overtone of death.
Moby-Dick and Frederick Douglass
African and African-American culture similarly resonate in Moby-Dick. One of the more poignant instances of this phenomenon arrives with the novel's "Midnight, Forecastle" chapter. Melville portrays two factions of the crew, the "jollies" and "sulkies," and, according to Stuckey, these coexisting groups mirror the "cheer" and "gloom" of the blues as described in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
Stuckey places much significance on Melville's portrayal (influenced by Douglass) of the blues' dialectically enhanced power of sweet sorrow, stating that: "Perhaps he was the first American to present the blues as the American national music." Well, perhaps. Though Stuckey at times reaches to make his connections, he nonetheless presents a thought-provoking argument.
Concluding Remarks
Stuckey's African Culture and Melville's Art presents new and welcomed perspectives for Melville studies. His biographical, cultural, and intertextual analyses uncover interesting and relevant information. Ultimately, Stuckey sheds some light on the shrouded and compelling craft of one of America's finest writers.
 |
