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American Transcendentalism. Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” Thoreau’s Walden *www.learner.org * www.csustan.edu. Emerson (1803-1882).
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American Transcendentalism Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” Thoreau’s Walden *www.learner.org * www.csustan.edu
Emerson (1803-1882) • Ralph Waldo Emerson was the preeminent philosopher, writer, and thinker of his day, best known for articulating the Transcendentalist ideals of creative intuition, self-reliance, and the individual's unlimited potential.
Transcendentalism • A nineteenth-century group of American writers and thinkers who believed that only by transcending the limits of rationalism and received tradition could the individual fully realize his or her potential. • Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau are among the most influential Transcendentalists.
Transcendentalism • 1. spiritual, 2. philosophical and 3. literary movement and is located in the history of American Thought as: (a). Free thinking in religious spirituality(b). Idealistic in philosophy and(c). Romantic and individualistic in literature.
Transcendentalism and the American Past • Transcendentalism represented a complex response to the democratization of American life, to the rise of science and the new technology, and to the new industrialism - to the whole question, in short, of the redefinition of the relation of man to nature and to other men that was being demanded by the course of history. (Warren,et.al.11-12) * Warren, Robert Penn, Cleanth Brooks, and R. W. B. Lewis. "A National Literature and Romantic Individualism." in Romanticism. eds. James Barbour and Thomas Quirk. NY: Garland, 1986, 3-24.
Transcendental Legacy • The influence on contemporary writers: Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and Dickinson. • William James and his ideas on the "subconscious” and modern psychology • The influence on Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. M. L. King, Jr. and others who protested using civil disobedience. • The influence on the "beat" generation of the 1950s and the "young radicals" of the '60s and '70s who practiced dissent, anti-materialism, anti-war, and anti-work ethic sentiments. • The influence on Modernist writers like: Frost, Stevens, O'Neill, Ginsberg. • The popularity of Transcendental Meditation, Black Power, Feminism, and sexual freedoms.
Romantic Individualism • The belief that individuals are endowed with not only reason but also an intuition that allows them to receive and interpret spiritual truths. • Individuals thus have a responsibility to throw off the shackles of traditions and inherited conventions in order to live creatively according to their own unique perception of truth. • Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" is often considered to be a manifesto of Romantic Individualism.
Nonconformity • Despite controversies provoked by some of his work, Emerson's impassioned calls for Americans to reject their deference to old, European traditions and to embrace experimentation were received with enthusiasm by a generation of writers, artists, and thinkers who strove to embody his ideals of American art.
“Self-Reliance”: A Closer Look • 1. Select favorite aphorisms from the text. • Why? What do you find particularly meaningful or illuminating? 2. Is there a particular theme that links the collection of thoughts together? 3. How does Emerson organize this essay: paragraphs, sections, analogies? 4. Personal connections: homework reflection
