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1994
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Serge Meitinger, « Maître ou esclave ? Benito Cereno ou les chausse-trappes d'un récit truqué », Littérature, ID : 10.3406/litt.1994.2326
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Melville twists his tale, which hinges on the revelation that Cereno has been pretending to be the master of his mutinying slaves, beyond the necessities of suspense. This excess brings home the horror of Cereno' s plight, condemned to act out what his reality ought to be, and implies that all power — and all story-telling — of necessity mimes legitimacy — or truth -telling, suggesting that power can never be legitimate. Had Delano, or the reader, been able to think this way, they might not have believed the show — but might not have been democrats either.