Leadership and Monomania: Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick

Burkard Sievers

Chapter 4 in Fictional Leaders, 2013, pp 50-86 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract This paper has turned out to be a whale of a paper and is at the same time ‘but a draught—nay, but the draught of a draught’ (Melville, 1851/1967, Page 128). Nevertheless, as Joseph Conrad (1920) once replied to the critics of his novel Chance, it seems that I am in good company: No doubt that by selecting a certain method and taking great pains the whole story might have been written out on a cigarette paper. For that mater, the whole history of mankind could be written thus if only approached with sufficient detachment. The history of men on this earth since the beginning of ages may be rescued in one phrase of infinite poignancy: They were born, they suffered, they died … Yet it is a great talent. But in the infinitely minute stories about men 50 and women it is my lot on earth to narrate I am not capable of such detachment. (Preface, Chance, Page i)

Keywords: Primary Task; Social Defence; Crew Member; Internal Object; Manic Defence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-27275-1_5

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781137272751

DOI: 10.1057/9781137272751_5

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().