As more liberties are given to the people of the growing United States, novels like Little Women are encouraged to be published. One important term that comes up a lot during this time period is transcendentalism which is most accurately defined as an idealistic philosophical and social movement which taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity. Now to put that into simpler terms, transcendentalism is a movement which believed that every human has the capacity to achieve greatness within his or her own self through God. This idea evolved from German romanticism and platonism (philosophy of Plato and his followers). One famed transcendentalist, Walt Whitman, wrote the anthology Leaves of Grass in 1855; he advocated for change and progression through his writing. Whitman writes, “All the Past we leave behind; We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world.” This idea of moving forward was only impactful to the public after the anthology was published and as a result, Whitman did not receive the laud he deserved. His beliefs are important to us, as students, because in order to do well on the AP test we have to ascertain a deeper understanding of the feelings and issues in society during the different phases of America. From the reactions to Whitman’s poems (directly after publishing it) we can see that many Americans did not like his writing because they did not believe in it or understand it. Looking back, we can see that Whitman’s writings are relevant to a lot of issues circa 1850 (I will list them at the end). When Whiteman was finally realized in 1876, the public reacted differently to his writing. The London Saturday Review reviewed his anthology; they described it as “shameless obscenity” but also stated that its honesty was refreshing although it would never have been heard “decent people.” Another famed transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was an essayist and poet (although not high ranking in either); he was named the father of transcendentalism. Emerson was not the preeminent essayist or poet, but rather an influential figure who aided other transcendentalists through his harsh reviews. Whitman’s success was reliant on Emerson’s five page letter describing the greatness of Whitman’s anthology. But why was Emerson so famous? The answer lies in in the fact that his principles reflected the ideas of “an expanding America.” Both Emerson and Whitman wanted to move forward and progress as a country, leaving behind the false sense of felicity that confounded America’s citizens (who were perpetually questioning their liberties).
Here are some of the changes transcendentalists advocated:
- abolishing slavery
- Union cause in the Civil War
- repealing the Massachusetts poll tax
- nonviolence
- public education
- dignity of an individual
The ideas of transcendentalists inspired well-known altruists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi.
Questions:
1. How could you use the information provided on the AP test?
2. Why is it important that we study antiquated writers, are they truly antiquated?
3. How did transcendentalism affect development today?
*Hint: I mentioned some famous individuals who were inspired by transcendentalism
(Whitman’s writings)
Great post, Rishub. One important, and quite interesting, idea of the Transcendental Era is American writers' desire to distinguish their own style. Education and literature of the time were highly based upon European, namely British, traditions. Transcendentalists wanted to "transcend" these boundaries and create somewhat of an American aesthetic in their work. Of course, it is still debatable whether writers of the transcendental era truly achieved uniqueness from European literature or if BritLit was still their greatest influence.
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ReplyDeleteRishub,
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I think that Transcendentalism is sort of confusing because of its broad definition, but you make it very clear that Transcendentalism is a movement based on fundamental ideals, and not necessarily on a discrete definition. I think it's also interesting about transcendentalists that it was sort of a second wave of individualist fervor following the Second Great Awakening, so it's kind of grounded in religion, even though it rejects many famous religious doctrine.