Cycnos | Numéros | Volume 17.2 - Herman Melville : espaces d'écriture

Résumé :

Written between 1888 and 1891, the year of Melville's death, Billy Budd was published posthumously which confers to this text the value of an ultimate testimony. Though the first level of encoding of this text gives it the appearance of a strong condemnation of humanity and of the glorification of Evil over Good, one must be careful about the deeper meaning of the lexical codes used by the author. As a matter of fact, a second and more thorough approach of the text leads to a different and more generous message: to Melville, only the values of the heart can lead to the hope of a survival over the inexorability of fate. The salvation of man by man is possible.

Date de publication : 2008-07-15