New England Transcendentalism
The Summit of American Romanticism
Transcendentalism
• (1) • (2) • (3) • (4)
Definition Features Influences Representatives
Emerson’s Point of View
“the infinitude of man” firmly believes in the transcendence of the “ oversoul ” regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803----1882)
~~went to Europe, and met Coleridge, Carlyle and Wordsworth and made friends with them, and brought back the influence of European Romanticism.
2.regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man ~~Nature as symbolic of God. ~~In the eyes of Emerson, “nature is the vehicle of thought,” and “particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts”. Thus everything bears a secondary and an ulterior隐秘的 sense. A flowing river indicates the ceaseless motion of the universe. The seasons correspond to the life span of man. The ant is the image of man himself, small in body but mighty in heart.
Limitations
~~Emerson had no sense of evil and too optimistic about human nature and the society. Somebody once called this kind of optimism "Transcendental
Ⅲ. Influences
(1) It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and brought about the idea that human can be perfected by nature. (2) It advocated idealism that was greatly needed in a rapidly expanded economy. (3) It helped to create the first American renaissance – one of the most prolific period in American literature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803----1882) Life
~~born in a clergyman’s family in New England ~~graduated from Harvard ~~became a Unitarian minister to the --- of Boston, but not for Second Church long. ~~Finding the rationality of Unitarianism intolerable, he decided to leave his job as minister
3. Offering fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit or God. (Nature was not purely matter. It was the garment of the Oversoul.) “Spirit is present everywhere.” The individual soul communed with the Oversoul and was therefore divine.
folly".
~~His reputation fell in the 20th century
Nature
This work has the clearest statement of Transcendentalist ideas. In it Emerson stated that man should not see nature merely as something to be used; that man’s relationship with nature transcends the idea of usefulness.
Sources:
1. 2. 3. 4. Romantic literatures of Europe, German idealism and French eclecticism. American Puritanism, Oriental mysticism (philosophy of the Chinese Confucius and Mencius )
Emerson’s aesthetics
~~Poets should function as preachers who gave directions to the mass. ~~True poetry and true art should serve as a moral purification ~~Emerson places emphasis on ideas, symbols and imaginative words. ~~As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrate America and the life today. ~~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 America poets such as Whitman and Dickinson
~~The most important representatives are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Ⅱ.Major featuresFra bibliotek( ideas):
1. Placing emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. --a new way of looking at the world 2. Stressing the importance of the individual—self-reliance. --a new way of looking at man
~~founded a Transcendentalists' Club and published a journal ~~became the most eloquent spokesman of Transcendentalism
Major Literary Works
Nature（1836）………..《论自然》 The American Scholar(1837) …《论美国学者》 Divinity School Address(1838)…《神学院演讲》 The Over-Soul(1841)……《论超灵》 Self Reliance(1841)…….《论自立》
Ⅰ.What is
Transcendentalism?
~~The publication of Nature marked the beginning of Transendentalism ~~“Transcendental” ~~ Transcendentalism is a literature, philosophical and artisic movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860.Transcendentalism has been defined philosophically as “the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively”
Ⅳ.The Representatives of New England Transcendentalism
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) 2. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (拉尔夫·华尔多·爱默生) (1803-1882) –American philosopher, poet and essayist –The most important spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.