Transedentalism

nullnullLecture 4: Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau New England TranscendentalismNew England TranscendentalismSome New Englanders, who were not happy about the materialistic-oriented life of their time, formed themselves into an informal club, the Transcendentalist Club, and met to discuss matters of interest of the life of the nation as a whole. They expressed their views, published their journal, the Dial, the made their voice heard. The club, with a membership of some thirty men and a couple of women included Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller, reacted against the faith of Boston businessmen and the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism.DefinitionDefinitionThe term “transcendentalism” is derived from the Latin verb “transcendere” meaning, to rise above, or to pass beyond the limits. Transcendentalism has been defined as the recognition in man of the capacity of acquiring knowledge transcending the reach of the five senses, or of knowing truth intuitively, or of reaching the divine without the need of an intercessor. Major Features of New England TranscendentalismMajor Features of New England TranscendentalismFirstly, the Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe.nullSecondly, the Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. As the regeneration of society could only come about through the regeneration of the individual, his perfection, his self-culture and self-improvement. nullThirdly, the transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature a symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. It was the garment of the Oversoul. nullFourthly, it stressed the power of intuition, believing that people could learn things both from the outside world by means of the five senses and from the inner world by intuition.nullIn 1836 a little book came out which made a tremendous impact on the intellectual life of America. It was entitled Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson.Lecture 4: Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David ThoreauLecture 4: Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David ThoreauPart One: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) I.Emerson’s Life: II.Emerson’s Philosophy as the Leading New England Transcendentalist:null1.Emerson’s Oversoul. He firmly believes in the transcendence of the “Oversoul”. And his emphasis on the spirit runs through virtually all his writings. 2.Emerson’s Idealism. He sees the world as phenomenal, and emphasizes the need for idealism, for idealism sees the world in God.null3.Emerson’s View on Spirit. He sees spirit pervading everywhere, not only in the soul of man, but behind nature, throughout nature. 4.Emerson’s View on Man. In his opinion, man is made in the image of God and is just a little less then Him. In this way, man is divine.null5.Emerson’s View on Individuality and Self-Reliance. The individual is the most important of all. Emerson advocates “the infinitude of man.” For him, if man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. So men should and could be self-reliant. nullEach man should feel the world as his, and the world exists for him alone. He should determine his own existence. Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world and that he makes the world by making himself. In a word, Emerson was in the main optimistic about human perfectibility.null6.Emerson’s Nature. To Emerson, nature was emblematic of God. It mediates between man and God, and its voice leads to higher truth. To him nature is wholesome moral influence on man and his character. A natural implication of Emerson’s view on nature is that the world around is symbolic.null7.Emerson’s Aesthetics. 1). The function of a poet: Emerson’s poet is no ordinary person. He is a complete man; an eternal man, one whose birth is the principal event in history. He should be able to see into the deeps of infinite time, comprehend the path of things and divine unity of the Universe by intuition, and communicate the feelings of contact with nature to his fellowman. True poetry and true art should ennoble. It should serve as a moral purification and a passage toward organic unity and higher reality. null2). Emerson places emphasis on ideas, symbols, and imaginative words. The argument of the poet should decide the form of the poem instead of traditional techniques. The poet should express his thought in symbols. He should use words for their pictorial and imaginative meaning. null3). As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrate America which was to him a long poem in itself, to celebrate the life of today. 4). Emerson’s aesthetics brought about a revolution in American literature in general and in American poetry in particular. It marked the birth of true American poetry and true American poets such as Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. null8.The famous statements in Emerson’s doctrine of the Oversoul: “Each mind lives in the Grand mind,” “There is one mind common to all individual men,” “Man is conscious of a universal soul within or behind his individual life.”null9.The famous statements in Emerson’s View on Self-reliance: “Build therefore your own world.” “Trust thyself!” “Make thyself!” “I ask for the individuals, not the nation.” null10.The famous statements in Emerson’s View on Nature: “Nature is the vehicle of thought.” “particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts.” “Nature is the symbol of spirit.” III. Emerson’s Influence on American Literature and Culture III. Emerson’s Influence on American Literature and Culture His call for an independent culture played a very important part in the intellectual history of the nation. His “The American Scholar” has been regarded as “America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence.” He called on American writers to write about America in a way peculiarly American.nullEmerson’s importance in the intellectual history of America lies in the fact that he embodied a new nation’s desire and struggle to assert its own identity in its formative period. Part Two: Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862) Part Two: Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862) I.Thoreau’s Life II.Thoreau’s Ideas Embodied in His Waldennull1. He saw nature as a genuine restorative, healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being, and regarded it as a symbol of spirit. He firmly believes that “nature objects and phenomena are the original symbols or types which express our thoughts and feelings.” He was seen lost in contemplation of the world around. nullSo Walden is a faithful record of his reflections when he was in solitary communion with nature, an eloquent indication that he not only embraced Emerson’s Transcendentalist philosophy but went even further to illustrate the pantheistical quality of nature. null2. Thoreau has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man. He holds that the most important thing for men to do with their lives is to be self-sufficient and strive to achieve personal spiritual perfection. So he has been regarded as a prophet of individualism in American literature.null3. Thoreau was very critical of modern civilization. It was, in his opinion, degrading and enslaving man. As he saw it, modern civilized life has dehumanized man and placed him in a spiritual quandary. null4. In his opinion, spiritual richness is real wealth. 5. Walden exhibits Thoreau’s calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men. nullI. Poe’s Theory for the Short Story According to Poe, the short story must be of such length as to be read at one sitting (brevity), so as to ensure the totality of impression. The very first sentence ought to help to bring out the “single effect” of the story. No word should be used which does not contribute to the “pre-established” design of the work (compression).nullA tale should reveal some logical truth with “the fullest satisfaction,” and should end with the last sentence, leaving a sense of finality with the reader. Poe was a fascinating man of imagination interested in deduction and induction. On the one hand he was much given to the world of imagination and fancy, and on the other, he was also a full rational human being, logical to a fault, with an intuitive faculty and a sixth sense impossible to define.nullPoe places the subconscious condition of the mind under investigation and probes beneath the surface of normal existence. So Poe’s fictional characters are mostly neurotics. He was the first author in American literature to make the neurotic the heroic figure, the protagonist, in his stories. II. Poe’s Poetic TheoriesII. Poe’s Poetic TheoriesThe poem should be short, readable at one sitting. Its chief aim is beauty, namely, to produce a feeling of beauty in the reader. Beauty aims at “an elevating excitement of the soul,” and “beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Thus melancholy is the most legitimate of all the poetic tones.”nullPoe is opposed to “the heresy of the didactic” and calls for “pure” poetry. According to Poe, art does not lie in its message; poetry does not have to inculcate a moral; it has only to be; the artistry of the poem lies not in what is being said but in the way it is said. Poe stresses rhythm, defines true poetry as “the rhythmical creation of beauty,” and declares that “music is the perfection of the soul, or idea, of poetry.”III. Poe’s InfluenceIII. Poe’s InfluencePoe’s aesthetics and conscious craftsmanship, his attack on “the heresy of the didactic” and his call for “the rhythmical creation of beauty” have influenced French symbolists and the devotees of “art for art’s sake.” Poe was father of many things, one of which is psychoanalytic criticism, the other being the detective story.