“Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic Writings
The essay examines Harriet Prescott Spofford’s short story “The Moonstone Mass” (1868) through the lens of fluidity foregrounded by her Arctic poem “The Story of the Iceberg” (1897). Rendering a network of actors (human and other), who are connected and continuously influence one another, “The Moons...
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| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2019-10-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15225 |
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| author | Verena Laschinger |
| author_facet | Verena Laschinger |
| author_sort | Verena Laschinger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The essay examines Harriet Prescott Spofford’s short story “The Moonstone Mass” (1868) through the lens of fluidity foregrounded by her Arctic poem “The Story of the Iceberg” (1897). Rendering a network of actors (human and other), who are connected and continuously influence one another, “The Moonstone Mass” demands an analysis that acknowledges relationality as facilitating the protagonist’s discovery of the Northwest Passage alongside other metaphorical pathways, which the geographical trope symbolizes in the text. I argue that “The Moonstone Mass” fictionally renders an (imaginary) geographical journey to describe the complexities and challenges of personal, generational and societal transfers from the culturally conspicuous perspective of the nineteenth-century American storyteller transitioning from the era of Romanticism to Realism. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b70c2056baa44eb9b8d0cac0da562ee1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-b70c2056baa44eb9b8d0cac0da562ee12025-01-06T09:09:50ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362019-10-0114310.4000/ejas.15225“Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic WritingsVerena LaschingerThe essay examines Harriet Prescott Spofford’s short story “The Moonstone Mass” (1868) through the lens of fluidity foregrounded by her Arctic poem “The Story of the Iceberg” (1897). Rendering a network of actors (human and other), who are connected and continuously influence one another, “The Moonstone Mass” demands an analysis that acknowledges relationality as facilitating the protagonist’s discovery of the Northwest Passage alongside other metaphorical pathways, which the geographical trope symbolizes in the text. I argue that “The Moonstone Mass” fictionally renders an (imaginary) geographical journey to describe the complexities and challenges of personal, generational and societal transfers from the culturally conspicuous perspective of the nineteenth-century American storyteller transitioning from the era of Romanticism to Realism.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15225storytellingfluidityshort storyHarriet Prescott SpoffordArcticiceberg |
| spellingShingle | Verena Laschinger “Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic Writings European Journal of American Studies storytelling fluidity short story Harriet Prescott Spofford Arctic iceberg |
| title | “Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic Writings |
| title_full | “Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic Writings |
| title_fullStr | “Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic Writings |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic Writings |
| title_short | “Per si muove—it was a mass of moonstone”: Fluidity, Dynamic Relations, and the Commodification of Storytelling in Harriet Prescott Spofford’s Arctic Writings |
| title_sort | per si muove it was a mass of moonstone fluidity dynamic relations and the commodification of storytelling in harriet prescott spofford s arctic writings |
| topic | storytelling fluidity short story Harriet Prescott Spofford Arctic iceberg |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15225 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT verenalaschinger persimuoveitwasamassofmoonstonefluiditydynamicrelationsandthecommodificationofstorytellinginharrietprescottspoffordsarcticwritings |