Transcript RISE OF THE INDIVIDUAL

RISE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL
Part #2 - Transcendentalism
American Romanticism Reviewed
• Romanticism is an artistic and literary movement in America which
originated in direct response to rise rise of science, technology, and
industry in America.
• Romantics no longer conformed to the strict religious beliefs of
Puritan America; they did not reject God, but instead chose the
pursue other explanations.
• Basic tenets of Romanticism:
imagination
one should
be creative,
and
experiment
with science
Intuition
one should
follow
instincts over
logic and
reasoning
Idealism
one should
be realize the
opportunity
presented in
the changing
society of
America
Inspiration
one should
explore
nature and
the vast
frontier
Individuality
one should
celebrate the
self, that is the
unique beliefs
and values of
each individual
as society
grows more
diverse
What did Romantics write about?
Themes
Beauty
Non-Normal
Escapism
Nature
Romantics
pursued “pure
beauty” in
nature and the
self; therefore,
the wrote about
the wonder of
nature and
man’s abuse of
it, innocence of
youth, and how
it is corrupted.
Romantics
explored nontraditional
beliefs by
writing about
the
supernatural,
ancient folklore,
and anything
that might be
viewed as odd,
gross, and
scary.
Romantics were
on a quest to
escape the
colonized and
industrialized
America and
frequently wrote
about the
frontier and
unexplored
lands outside
the colonies.
Romantics were
interested in the
mystery of
nature and
used nature as
an escape, as a
source of
knowledge, and
as a revelation
of god to man in
their writing.
What is Transcendentalism?
• Transcendentalism is another Literary tradition, like Romanticism,
spawned by the change in America and a perceived need to rebel
against “unthinking conformity.”
• In 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, formed the Transcendental Club
with a group of intellectuals (Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller)
and began publishing poems, essays, lectures, etc. highlighting their
beliefs.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson’s original idea was an optimistic belief that,
"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we
will speak our own minds...A nation of men will for the first time exist,
because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which
also inspires all men."
Beliefs of the Transcendentalist.
• An individual is the spiritual center of the universe, spirituality comes
from inside the individual, “the self.”
• The structure of the universe literally duplicates the structure of the
individual self - all knowledge, therefore, begins with self-knowledge.
• Nature is a living mystery. It is full of signs. It is symbolic.
• The belief that individual virtue and happiness depend upon selfrealization, upon an individuals ability reconcile the desire to become
one with the world (self-transcending tendency) and to remain unique
and separate from the world (self-asserting tendency)
Basic Tenets of the
Transcendentalist.
• Transcendentalist “transcend” the rational, animalistic impulses of life
in order to move to a spiritual realm or as Emerson put it, “to find an
original relation to the universe.” All basic tenets stem from this core
belief.
Oversoul
The human
soul is part of
a universal
spirit, or life
force, which
we return to
when we die.
This life force
is found in
everything,
therefore
everything is
a miracle.
Afterlife
Death should
never be
feared
because at
death the
soul merely
returns to the
“oversoul.”
Instead we
should focus
on the here
and now.
Thinking
Humans are
good; if they
do immoral
acts it is
simply
because they
did not think
or are
ignorant.
Power and
truth come
from intuition.
Unity
One must
realize the
unity of life
and the
universe
because all
things are
related.
Reform
Reform must
not be
emphasized,
true reform
comes from
within.
Becoming a Transcendentalist.
• Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer
and the film adaptation by Sean
Penn, are modern examples of
Transcendentalism. Krakauer
retells the real life story of
Christopher McCandless and his
quest to find his original relation
to the universe by abandoning
the familiar things in his life, and
most of his possessions, living in
seclusion in the Alaskan
wilderness.
• While watching the film adaptation of this true story, answer the film
guide questions. They are designed to get you thinking like a
Transcendentalist.