Unit+2+Early+Romanticism

Unit2EarlyRomanticismAfewmorewordsaboutAmericanliteratureinthecolonialandrevolutionaryperiodMostoftheliteratureinthisperiodwaswrittenoutof/utilitarianpragmaticpurposes,eitherreligiousorpolitical.In1783,theyeartheUSwonthewarandachieveditsindependence,NoahWebsterdeclared,“Americamustbeasindependentinliteratureassheisinpolitics,asfamousfortheartsasforarms.”Yet,theimaginativeliteratureremainedderivativeanddependent.Mostwritingswerepatternedonthoseofthe18th-centuryEnglishmen.Theintellectualindependencewouldbeachievedatthebeginningofthe19thcenturywiththeTranscendentalistwriterssuchasEmersonandThoreau.AmericanRomanticism:1815-1865•Byfarmostdivisionsofhistoryarearbitrary;forthesakeofdiscussion•Somescholarstaketheyear1820asthebeginningofthisperiod:twoimportantbookspublishedaroundthattimewhichscholarsbelievedmarkedthebeginningoftheRomanticPeriod;TheSketchBook,publishedininstallment(1819-1820),tookthebookformin1820;TheSpy,JamesFenimoreCooper,1821;•1865,theendoftheCivilWarwhichchangedAmericanculture,societyandliteraturegreatlyAmericanRomanticism:1815-1865Belletristicliterature---literatureasart[ceasedtobedidactic,aservantofpoliticsandreligion]---finallyemergedinthe19thcentury.Earlyromantics:WashingtonIrving,JamesFenimoreCooper,andWilliamCullenBryantHighRomanticism:asuddenburstofcreativepowerinliterarygiantssuchasRalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreau,EdgarAllanPoe,NathanielHawthorne,andHermanMelvilleLateRomanticism:WaltWhitman,EmilyDickinsonFeaturesofRomanticismTheromanticspiritoriginallycameintobeingandgraduallystrengthenedinGermany,France,andEnglandfromthemiddleoftheeighteenthcentury,asareactionagainsttheprevailingneoclassicalspiritandrationalismduringtheAgeofReasonRomanticismreachedAmericainthe1810s.Romanticismwasrebelliousinspirit,standinginreactionagainsttheneoclassicalspiritthenprevailinginAmericanliterarylife.Neoclassicism:formality,order,authority;Romanticism:freedomandindividualism,imaginationsuperiortorationalismNeoclassicists:convincedofmaterialreality;romantics:prefertheinnateorintuitiveperceptionbytheheartofmanTheRomantics’relianceuponthesignificanceofthesubconscious,innerlifefoundexpressioninintuitionalismandaprofoundinterestinabnormalpsychology.•Theromanticshowedaprofoundadmirationandlovefornature,thebeautyandperfectionofnaturecouldproduceinhimanunspeakablejoy.•Theromanticbelievedthathewasthechosenandfavoredcreatureinnature,hencehewasfreeinusinghistalenttoeulogizenature.•Theromanticalsohadapersistentinterestintheprimitiveliterature,suchasepics,ballads,andotherformsoffolkliterature,inwhichhefoundinspirationofvariouskinds.•InAmericaasinEurope,freshnewvisionelectrifiedartisticandintellectualcircles.•Yettherewasanimportantdifference:RomanticisminAmericacoincidedwiththeperiodofnationalexpansionandthediscoveryofadistinctiveAmericanvoice.•ThesolidificationofanationalidentityandthesurgingidealismandpassionofRomanticismnurturedthemasterpiecesoftheAmericanRenaissance.”TheRomanticspiritseemedparticularlysuitedtoAmericandemocracy:Itstressedindividualism,affirmedthevalueofthecommonperson,andlookedtotheinspiredimaginationforitsaestheticandethicalvalues.CertainlytheNewEnglandTranscendentalists--RalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreau,andtheirassociates--wereinspiredtoanewoptimisticaffirmationbytheRomanticMovement.InNewEngland,Romanticismfelluponfertilesoil.•Newlyachievedindependence,freefromEuropeandominance,workingtowardsakindofpoliticaldemocracyandequality:optimism•WesternExpansion,ever-recedingfrontier,vastexpanseofforestland:individualism;freedom;frontieregalitarianism;imagination;loveofnature;celebrationofthenewlandscape•TheNEWNESSofthenation:culturalnationalism•Minglingofraces,esp.theprimitivenessoftheIndiantribes,theexoticelements:stirstheimaginationabouttheunknown•Largelyagrarian:idyllicsentimentsandhumoroustreatmentoftherusticlife•Romanticideascenteredaroundartasinspiration,thespiritualandaestheticdimensionofnature.Art,ratherthanscience,Romanticsargued,couldbestexpressuniversaltruth.TheRomanticsunderscoredtheimportanceofexpressiveartfortheindividualandsociety:consistentwiththenation’sneedforanindependentliterature.•AmericanromanticismdidnotachieveitsmostpowerfularticulationuntilPoe,Emerson,Thoreau,Hawthorne,Melville,WhitmanandEmilyDickinson.SlightlyearlierthantheseachievementstherewereWashingtonIrving,JamesFenimoreCooperandWilliamCullenBryantwhoexhibited,todifferentdegrees,romanticfeatures.Irving,CooperandBryantareregardedaspioneersofAmericanromanticism.WashingtonIrving(1783-1859)JohnQuidor'spaintingTheHeadlessHorsemanPursuingIchabodCrane,inspiredbyWashingtonIrving'sworkHelpedestablishtheAmericannationalliterature;astoryteller,abiographer,andahistorianThefirstgreatprosestylistofAmericanromanticism,thefirstgreatAmericanbelletrist,authorofthefirstAmericanshortstoriesandfamiliaressays,thefirstgreatAmericanmanofletterstowriteforpleasureratherthanutility,andthefirstAmericanauthortoachieveinternationaldistinction,allthesetitlesbelongtoWashingtonIrving,notonlyepitomizingthegreatsuccessofIrvingasawriterbutalsorev