American Studies (미국학)

Seoul National University American Studies Institute (서울대학교 미국학연구소)
권호 표지

"Many Strange Things Were Hinted": The Meaning of Gams in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick from the Perspective of the Sailors' Formation of Group Identity

"많은 낯선 것들이 힌트로 제공되었다": 피쿼드호 선원들의 조직정체성 형성 관점에서 본 허먼 멜빌의 『모비딕』에 나오는 갬의 의미

  • Received : 2020.12.15
  • Accepted : 2020.12.26
  • Published : 2020.12.31

⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

This paper attempts to interpret the meaning of nine gams in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. It approaches the topic from an organizational identity perspective. It is the theory which asserts the importance of the reference group in the formation of group members' organizational identity. This paper views the gams as the reference groups for the sailors of the Pequod and shows what meanings or questions each gam presents to them. It divides the nine gams into three groups according to their functions in the organizational sense. This paper argues that the extremely dangerous quest of the Pequod is not led by the captain only, but the sailors, who are given many chances to make their decisions after having gams, eventually choose to obey and follow their leader. The tragic end is partly what they choose, after all.

Keywords

References

  1. Bezanson, Walter E. "Moby-Dick: Work of Art." Moby-Dick Centennial Essays. Ed. Tyras Hillway and Luther S. Mansfield. Dallas: Southern Methodist UP, 1953. 30-58.
  2. Boruszko, Graciela Susana. "The Gam: 'A Particular Place in the Transnational.'" Diasporic Identities and Empire: Cultural Contentions and Literary Landscapes. Ed. Anastasia Nicephore and David Brooks. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013. 29-39.
  3. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 2012. 443-59.
  4. Dove-Rume, Janine. "Melville's Fake Gams in Moby-Dick; or, the Whale." Revue Francaise D'etudes Americaines 50 (1991): 391-400.
  5. Gioia, Dennis A. "From Individual to Organizational Identity." Identity in Organizations: Building Theory through Conversations. Ed. David A. Whetten and Paul C. Godfrey. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1998. 17-31.
  6. Granger, Bruce Ingham. "The Gams in Moby Dick." Western Humanities Review 8 (1954): 41-47.
  7. Lee, Kwangjin. "Ahab, a Charismatic Leader?: A Study on Ahab's Leadership in Moby-Dick Using Robert J. House's Charismatic Leadership Theory." Journal of American Studies 52.2 (2020): 245-77.
  8. Lee, Kwangjin. "Four Essential Organizational Elements in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick." The Journal of Teaching English Literature 24.1 (2020): 187-212.
  9. Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. Ed. John Bryant and Haskell Springer. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007.
  10. Parke, John. "Seven Moby-Dicks." The New England Quarterly 28.3 (1955): 319-38. https://doi.org/10.2307/362647
  11. Sfariac, Iustin. "The Meaning of the Gams in Moby-Dick." Studia Universtitais Petru Major. Philologia 3 (2004): 137-40.
  12. Stone, Edward. "The Function of the Gams in Moby-Dick." College Literature 2.3 (1975): 171-81.
  13. Taira, Masashi. "The Nine Gams and Seven Meetings: An Approach to Moby-Dick and 'My Kinsman, Major Molineux.'" Ryudai Review of Language & Literature 26 (1981): 75-90.
  14. Young, James D. "The Nine Gams of the Pequod." American Literature 25 (1954): 449-63. https://doi.org/10.2307/2921660