Abrindo o oceano: uma análise dialógica do discurso religioso no romance Moby-Dick

Abstract

In 1851, one of the greatest American classical works was released, namely, Moby-Dick. Written by Herman Melville, the literary piece was misunderstood and did not receive its due attention, being rediscovered in the 1920s. Many literary critics did not comprehend its encyclopaedical perspective and the several dialogues with the protestant Christian religion that, according to them, did not respect the most sacred associations in life (DUYCKINCK, 2019). This thesis aims to analyze this religious discourse through the prism of the Dialogic Literary Analysis (DLA), focusing on the analysis of excerpts from the novel related to three aspects about religion: religious mysticism as a narrative fuel, the carnivalization of religious discourse, and the dialogue of the “pagan” religion with puritanism. We conclude that the three aspects quoted previously create an array of dialog possibilities with other cultures and religions and that the use of carnivalization puts the dominant culture and religion in terms of equality with others, generating an interdiscursivity and a supernatural sphere which permeates the whole text without losing sight of the world social reality.