Аннотация

In the late 1840-s, especially during his residence in New York City (1847–1850), Herman Melville was connected with Evert Duyckinck circle and shared many ideas of “Young America”, in particular its fostering of distinctively native literature, its experiments with language. He made an accent on youth, showed interest in American artists, called for reforms in the U.S. Navy. Some passages from his early books reflect the political culture of the Jacksonian Democracy, the “Democratic Review’s” egalitarian rhetoric. Attitude of the author towards European revolutions of the mid-19th century, his vision of U.S. mission are more complex and contradictory. He was not a radical but linking him with New York’s Whig elite, with aspirations of its upper class seems to be an exaggeration. Herman Melville was, first of all, a Writer.