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Friday, March 24, 2017

Derick De Deer, German or Dutch?

A Dutch dogger with a whaler and other vessels off a Dutch port RMG BHC0969

Both, right? The Dutch and Germans chase after sperm whales under one "flag." And Stubb calls Captain De Deer and/or his ship "Yarman" and "unmannerly Dutch dogger!"

Probably Dr. Snodhead could sort it out.

3 comments:

  1. > Probably Dr. Snodhead could sort it out.

    He is the Clement Moore Professor of Linguistics at the College of St. Claus, is he not?

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  2. He will be, after I endow the Chair, after I hit the Powerball jackpot.

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  3. Hey hey, I just found this excellent and highly pertinent article by Cornelis de Jong on Melville's mockery of foreign whalers. Wish I had seen this earlier, via SSOAR:

    "Like many Americans Melville does not always make a distinction between the Dutch and the Germans, sometimes calling both nations Dutch. He depicts Derick de Deer and his crew as inexperienced, clumsy but conceited suckers."
    https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-56113-3

    Hooray for open access!!!

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