American Romanticism

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American Romanticism

• (Early- Mid 1800s)

2
Rationalists Review

• Outgrowth of European Enlightenment
• Heavy reliance on Reason and Logic to understand
  world
• Radical re-thinking of religion and its role in
  government
• Anti-European feeling as America establishes
  independence.
• Whole-hearted belief in Progress, urbanization,
  civilization
• What does this outlook on life seem to ignore?

3
American Cultural Development-

• Search for cultural independence
• For nearly 200 years, American readers had been
  looking to Europe, mainly Great Britain, for most
  of their reading material.
• What would American writers have to write about
  that European writers did not have?

4
Historical Context Early 1800s

• Louisiana Purchase (1802) doubles size of nation
  and hastens western expansion.
• Huge influx of immigrants (Irish, German, other
  N. Europeans) fleeing famine and war
• Cities boom
• Industrial Revolution
• Massive urbanization of population
• Crime, disease rampant
• How will these events affect American literature?

5
Romantic Philosophy

• City is site of corruption, moral decay, and
  death
• Countryside/ nature site of renewal and rebirth
• Valued feeling and intuition over reason
• Horrors of industrialized society, etc.
• Intuition capable of understanding truths that
  reason cant reach
• Felt experience valued over theory

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Definition

• Romanticism refers to a movement in art,
  literature, and music during the 19th century.
• Romanticism is characterized by the 5 Is
• Imagination
• Intuition
• Idealism
• Inspiration
• Individuality

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Imagination

• Imagination was emphasized over reason.
• This was a backlash against the rationalism
  characterized by the Age of Reason.
• Imagination was considered necessary for creating
  all art.

8
Intuition

• Romantics placed value on intuition, or feeling
  and instincts, over reason.
• Emotions were important in Romantic art.

9
Idealism

• Idealism is the concept that we can make the
  world a better place.
• Idealism refers to any theory that emphasizes the
  spirit, the mind, or language over matter
  thought has a crucial role in making the world
  the way it is.
• Transcendentalist will clash with American dark
  romantics on this point.

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Inspiration

• The Romantic artist, musician, or writer, is an
  inspired creator rather than a technical
  master.
• What this means is going with the moment or
  being spontaneous, rather than getting it
  precise.

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Individuality

• Romantics celebrated the individual.
• During this time period, Womens Rights and
  Abolitionism were taking root as major movements
  which is grounded in individualism.
• Walt Whitman, a later Romantic writer, would
  write a poem entitled Song of Myself it
  begins, I celebrate myself

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• Poe Sciencedull realities that weigh down the
  poets heart and imagination.
• Poetry thought to be highest form of expression
• Self-consciously literate- lots of big words,
  obscure references, and complex sentences
• Very emotional goal is to give reader a feeling,
  not realistically depict character, setting, etc.
  

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Romantic Literature

• Poetry thought to be highest form of expression
• Self-consciously literate- lots of big words,
  obscure references, and complex sentences
• Very emotional goal is to give reader a feeling,
  not realistically depict character, setting, etc.
  
• About frontier (not present in Europe)
• Celebrates experience over stuffy sophistication

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The Romantic Hero

• Youthful innocent gt experienced sophisticated
• Intuitive (Heart) gt Rational (Brain)
• Action gt Words
• Close to nature uncomfortable in city
• Uneasy with women (who tried to tame)
• Sense of honor based on higher principle (not
  societys rules)
• Loves nature and avoids town life.
• Romantic Hero exists to this day. Can you name
  some in modern literature and film?

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Example The Noble Savage

• Everything is good in leaving the hands of the
  Creator of Things everything degenerates in the
  hands of man.
• -Rousseau
• Idealized version of Native American as
  unspoiled, uncorrupted, close to nature
• E.g. Chingachgook and Uncas in Last of the
  Mohicans

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Writers we will study

• Washington Irving
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• William Cullen Bryant
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Henry David Thoreau
• Edgar Allan Poe

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Washington Irving(1783-1859)

• First big American literary celebrity
• Born and raised in America, but spent 17 years in
  England- loved European culture
• Especially German folk tales
• Thus Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van
  Winkle- European-style folk tale in American
  setting
• Voice is classically American Romantic- a mix of
  lofty, classical tone with earthy American
  characters and subject matter.

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Romanticist Poetry

• The Fireside Poets
• Trying to prove American sophistication
• Generally kind of sappy, traditional themes
• Rigid, traditional structure (rhythm, ryhme)
• That being said
• Sometimes used to express political themes about
  abolition, Native American rights, etc.