American Romanticism & Transcendentalism

1. American Romanticism & Transcendentalism The American Renaissance (1828-1865)

2. Romanticism • Began in Germany during the second half of the 18th century • Had a strong influence on literature, music, and art in Europe and England well into the 19th century

3. Tenets of Romanticism • Romantics believed that imagination, spontaneity, individual feelings, and nature were of greater value than reason, logic, planning, and cultivation. • Romantics believed that the imagination was able to discover truths that reason could not reach. These truths were usually accompanied by powerful emotion and associated with beauty.

4. Romantic Literature • Sought to rise above “dull realities” to a realm of higher truth by: • Exploring exotic settings in the more “natural” past—a world far away from the industrial cities • Contemplating the natural world until dull reality falls away to reveal underlying beauty and truth • Common theme-- in NATURE and CHILDHOOD we see universal, spiritual truths

5. Themes in Romantic Literature • City= moral corruption and death • Countryside= independence, straightforward moral certainty, and health • Development of self/self-awareness • The individual had a moral duty to reform social inequalities and relieve human suffering

6. Transcendentalism “ It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, always do what you are afraid to do.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

7. What is Transcendentalism? • A literary movement in the 1830’s that established a clear “American voice”. • Idealistic philosophy, spiritual position, and literary movement that advocates reliance on romantic intuition and moral human conscience • A movement that focused primarily on the individual arriving at his own beliefs about the world. • Transcendentalism had different meanings for each person involved in the movement.

8. Where did it come from? • Ralph Waldo Emerson gave German philosopher Immanuel Kant credit for popularizing the term “transcendentalism.” • It began as a reform movement in the Unitarian church. • It is not a religion—more accurately, it is a philosophy or form of spirituality. • It centered around Boston and Concord, MA. in the mid-1800’s. • Emerson first expressed his philosophy of transcendentalism in his essay Nature

9. What did Transcendentalists believe? • A belief in a higher reality than that achieved by human reasoning. • Suggests that every individual is capable of discovering this higher truth through intuition. • There is an ideal spiritual state which “transcends” the physical and empirical. • Opposed the strict ritualism and dogma of established religion and the objectivity of science. • A loose collection of eclectic ideas about literature, philosophy, religion, social reform, and the general state of American culture.

10. Transcendentalist Beliefs, cont’d • Unlike Puritans, they saw humans and nature as possessing an innate goodness. “In the faces of men and women, I see God” -Walt Whitman • Believed in living close to nature/importance of nature. Nature is the source of truth and inspiration. • Taught the dignity of manual labor • Advocated self-trust/ confidence • Valued individuality/non-conformity/free thought • Advocated self-reliance/ simplicity

12. Who were the Transcendentalists? • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Henry David Thoreau • Amos Bronson Alcott • Margaret Fuller • Ellery Channing

13. Ralph Waldo Emerson • 1803-1882 • Unitarian minister • Poet and essayist • Founded the Transcendental Club • Popular lecturer • Banned from Harvard for 40 years following his Divinity School address • Supporter of abolitionism

14. Henry David Thoreau • 1817-1862 • Schoolteacher, essayist, poet • Most famous for Walden and Civil Disobedience • Influenced environmental movement • Supporter of abolitionism