Environmental Consciousness from the Days of Moby Dick to Present Day

Environmental Consciousness from the Days of Moby Dick to Present Day

Melville's oceans do not change: they are inexhaustible and eternal. Not so when we turn away from his pages. Today we see the global commons on the brink of tragedy. We see environmental groups emerging, transcending national boundaries in ways completely unknown to Melville. Through a juxtaposition of then and now, we can trace the process of change from "Moby Dick" to a new global consciousness, through a re-imagining of the oceans.

The stories we tell promote certain ideas and, in so doing, police social norms and construct common sense. At the same time, however, stories can reveal the underpinning categories for our understanding of the world. By naming the nameless, they enable us to recognize, question and critique our "truths" as historical constructions. Literary theorist Jonathan Culler thus posits two claims about literature: that it is both "the vehicle of ideology" and "an instrument for its undoing" (1:38).

Literature not only facilitates social change, but is itself subject to evolution. In spite of this fact, Melville proclaims: "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it" (2:349).

"Moby Dick" commands scholarly attention, yet is it 'great and enduring' in the sense that Melville may have intended? I am not convinced that it holds us in the same grip of relevance that it may have readers of the nineteenth century. Instead, I believe that our interest in the novel reflects an interest in the artifact of a particular historical moment, in this 'vehicle of ideology'. "Moby Dick" is important not because it is a static...

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...is story may turn out to be nothing more than ocean reveries of a different flavor.

References

1) Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press. (1997)

2) Melville, Herman. Parker, H. and Hayford, H. (Eds.) Moby Dick. Norton Critical Editions (2nd edition). WW Norton & Company. (2001)

3) Buell, L. Writing for an endangered world : literature, culture, and environment in the U.S. and beyond. Harvard University Press. (2001)

4) Strieker, G. "Japan finds whaling moratorium unappetizing." CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/03/28/whale.japan/ (March 2001)

5) "Big whales pass threat of disappearance - round-up." ITAR-TASS News Agency. Retrieved from Lexis-Nexis. (February 2004)

6) Dietz, T., Ostrom, E., and Stern, P. C. "The Struggle to Govern the Commons." Science v302 (5652): 1907-1912. (2003)