"What I Call a Wordy Man:" The Effects of Texts in Melville's The Confidence-Man
Publisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
This paper examines the function of physical texts and the power of language itself in Herman Melville's 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Throughout the novel, physical texts cause drastic changes in behavior and comportment in the characters who encounter them. Physical texts also function as a seemingly immutable signifier of authenticity and identity, but Melville later renders physical texts mutable and impossible to authenticate. The uncertain relationship between Melville's narrator and the novel itself calls into question the problem of documentation in the world outside of the novel.Type
textElectronic Thesis
Degree Name
B.A.Degree Level
bachelorsDegree Program
Honors CollegeEnglish