Riding into myth: Manifest Destiny, Nietzschean ethics and the creation of a new western frontier mythology in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian
- Authors: Edley, Christopher
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-. Blood meridian , Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 -- Influence , Mythology in literature , American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism , West (U.S.) -- In literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7334 , vital:21243
- Description: Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West is a provocative evocation of the American West that has attracted a wide range of critical responses. This study has three foci: the novel as epic myth, McCarthy’s critique of Manifest destiny, and the influence of Nietzschean philosophy on the judge and McCarthy’s portrayal of the human condition. These concerns conduce to an alternative reading of the conclusion of the novel. Blood Meridian is a unique textual enterprise as it both conforms to and subverts mythic conventions associated with both Classical epic and the American West. Recognition of the resonances between Blood Meridian and these mythologies helps the reader to engage with McCarthy’s ambitious creation of a powerful literary allegory in the tradition of Twain and Faulkner. Having situated McCarthy’s enterprise within these co-ordinates, the study then moves on to examine the novel’s stunning critique of Manifest Destiny, in the context of the implications that such thinking has had on American foreign policy over the past two centuries, and that continue to inspire American involvement in military conflicts well into the twenty-first century. The final area of focus is the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy on the character of the judge and the weltanschauung that the novel presents. McCarthy’s ultimate objective is to demonstrate that humankind’s most basic condition is an inherently violent one. The more critically accepted reading of the novel is challenged by postulating the kid’s triumph over the judge as not only in keeping with the literary tradition of Melville and others but also a logical outcome of the novel’s allegory of American military involvement in Vietnam. The study concludes that whilst McCarthy has gone on to receive critical acclaim and public praise for works published after Blood Meridian, this work remains both his artistic masterpiece and his most far-reaching engagement with issues of eschatological and political importance. It is argued that, given the contemporary escalation in geo-political tensions, Blood Meridian may well continue to provide insight into the nature of American domestic and foreign policy for decades to come.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Edley, Christopher
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-. Blood meridian , Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 -- Influence , Mythology in literature , American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism , West (U.S.) -- In literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7334 , vital:21243
- Description: Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West is a provocative evocation of the American West that has attracted a wide range of critical responses. This study has three foci: the novel as epic myth, McCarthy’s critique of Manifest destiny, and the influence of Nietzschean philosophy on the judge and McCarthy’s portrayal of the human condition. These concerns conduce to an alternative reading of the conclusion of the novel. Blood Meridian is a unique textual enterprise as it both conforms to and subverts mythic conventions associated with both Classical epic and the American West. Recognition of the resonances between Blood Meridian and these mythologies helps the reader to engage with McCarthy’s ambitious creation of a powerful literary allegory in the tradition of Twain and Faulkner. Having situated McCarthy’s enterprise within these co-ordinates, the study then moves on to examine the novel’s stunning critique of Manifest Destiny, in the context of the implications that such thinking has had on American foreign policy over the past two centuries, and that continue to inspire American involvement in military conflicts well into the twenty-first century. The final area of focus is the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy on the character of the judge and the weltanschauung that the novel presents. McCarthy’s ultimate objective is to demonstrate that humankind’s most basic condition is an inherently violent one. The more critically accepted reading of the novel is challenged by postulating the kid’s triumph over the judge as not only in keeping with the literary tradition of Melville and others but also a logical outcome of the novel’s allegory of American military involvement in Vietnam. The study concludes that whilst McCarthy has gone on to receive critical acclaim and public praise for works published after Blood Meridian, this work remains both his artistic masterpiece and his most far-reaching engagement with issues of eschatological and political importance. It is argued that, given the contemporary escalation in geo-political tensions, Blood Meridian may well continue to provide insight into the nature of American domestic and foreign policy for decades to come.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
The use of certain myths in the work of T.S. Eliot
- Authors: Hall, R F
- Date: 1964
- Subjects: Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Knowledge -- Literature , Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Criticism and interpretation , Mythology in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2300 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012129 , Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Knowledge -- Literature , Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Criticism and interpretation , Mythology in literature
- Description: T.S. Eliot's statement that myth is an ordering device in literature 'is constantly belied by his use of myth in his own poems'. This is the belief of the American critic Richard Chase, noted for his work on myths and mythological themes in English and American literature. Whether or not Chase is right must emerge from the chapters which follow. The purpose will be to examine the effects of the use of myths and mythological patterns on Eliot's work in general, rather than to annotate individual mythological allusions. Simply to recognise an allusion is to raise a question, not to answer one: for we have then to decide what the writer hope to achieve by its use, and whether or not he has succeeded. Unless they lead on to such questions, lists of sources contribute little to our understanding of a work. Far more important than incidental allusions are the mythological themes and patterns on the larger scale, which reveal themselves in recurrent allusions and in basic patterns of symbolism. Again, merely to recognise such a pattern is inadequate: in every case a discovery of its function in both the poem's (or play's) structure and the poet's technique should be our main concern. ... Eliot himself has made it clear that in his case the use of myths and mythological patterns has often been a fully conscious, even self-conscious process. Therefore we may apply to his work the questions mention by Norman: what functions the myths fulfil within individual works; and why Eliot uses them in the first place. This last question leads us back to a more fundamental one; why do many writers, especially modern ones, use myths 'in the first place'? The problem involves discussion of the relation between myths and literature and of the nature of myths themselves, this forms the material of the first chapter. The other chapters will deal with some of Eliot's works, attempting to explain and analyse his use of myths in them, and to illustrate its importance in each case.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1964
- Authors: Hall, R F
- Date: 1964
- Subjects: Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Knowledge -- Literature , Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Criticism and interpretation , Mythology in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2300 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012129 , Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Knowledge -- Literature , Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Criticism and interpretation , Mythology in literature
- Description: T.S. Eliot's statement that myth is an ordering device in literature 'is constantly belied by his use of myth in his own poems'. This is the belief of the American critic Richard Chase, noted for his work on myths and mythological themes in English and American literature. Whether or not Chase is right must emerge from the chapters which follow. The purpose will be to examine the effects of the use of myths and mythological patterns on Eliot's work in general, rather than to annotate individual mythological allusions. Simply to recognise an allusion is to raise a question, not to answer one: for we have then to decide what the writer hope to achieve by its use, and whether or not he has succeeded. Unless they lead on to such questions, lists of sources contribute little to our understanding of a work. Far more important than incidental allusions are the mythological themes and patterns on the larger scale, which reveal themselves in recurrent allusions and in basic patterns of symbolism. Again, merely to recognise such a pattern is inadequate: in every case a discovery of its function in both the poem's (or play's) structure and the poet's technique should be our main concern. ... Eliot himself has made it clear that in his case the use of myths and mythological patterns has often been a fully conscious, even self-conscious process. Therefore we may apply to his work the questions mention by Norman: what functions the myths fulfil within individual works; and why Eliot uses them in the first place. This last question leads us back to a more fundamental one; why do many writers, especially modern ones, use myths 'in the first place'? The problem involves discussion of the relation between myths and literature and of the nature of myths themselves, this forms the material of the first chapter. The other chapters will deal with some of Eliot's works, attempting to explain and analyse his use of myths in them, and to illustrate its importance in each case.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1964
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