The Romantic Period (1820-1860) And 19 th Century Regionalism

1. The Romantic Period (1820-1860) And 19th Century Regionalism

2. Romanticism in America coincided with the period of national expansion and the discovery of a distinctive American voice. • The solidification of a national identity, and • the surging idealism and passion of • Romanticism inspired the masterpieces • of "the American Renaissance."

3. Romantic ideas centered around art as inspiration, the spiritual and aesthetic dimension of nature, and metaphors of organic growth. • Art, rather than science, • Romantics argued, • could best express universal truth. • The Romantics underscored • the importance of expressive art • for the individual and society.

4. The self awareness and development became major themes.According to Romantic theory if, self and nature were one, self-awareness was not a selfish dead end but rather a mode of knowledge opening up the universe. • If one's self were one with all humanity, • then the individual had a moral duty to reform social inequalities and relieve • human suffering.

5. New compound words with positive meanings emerged: • "self-realization," • "self-expression," • "self- reliance."

6. Henry Clay Lewis, 1825-1850 (c1858)

7. These humorous sketches are entertaining; although often they can be offensive because of the stereotypes of minority characters (e.g. Native Americans or African Americans) and presenting disabilities (e.g. dwarfism) as butts for humor. • Lewis might have made a name for himself had he lived longer: • The story of his death— • the 25-year-old doctor drowning in the bayou while on the way home from a house call— • sounds like an • incident from one of his own sketches!

13. Artistic effects and techniques were developed to evoke heightened psychological states. • The "sublime" -- an effect of beauty in grandeur (for example, a view from a mountaintop) -- produced feelings of awe, reverence, vastness, and power . • America's vast mountains, deserts, and tropics embodied the sublime.

14. The Romantic spirit seemed particularly suited to American democracy— • --It stressed individualism, affirmed the value of the common person, • and looked to the inspired imagination for its values.

16. Mojave Desert

17. The New England Transcendentalists -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and their associates— were inspired to a new optimistic affirmation by the Romantic movement. In New England, Romanticism especially thrived.

18. The movement was based on a fundamental belief in the unity of the world and God. The soul of each individual was thought to be identical with the world— The doctrine of self- reliance and individualism developed through the belief in the identification of the individual soul with God. Concord, Mass. was a rural artist's colony and the first place to offer a spiritual and cultural alternative to American materialism. It was a place of high-minded conversation and simple living. The Transcendentalist movement was a manifestation of the general humanitarian trend of 19th century thought.

19. Concord Pond, Mass.

21. Walden Pond, Mass.

24. The Transcendental Club was loosely organized in 1836 • and included • Emerson, • Thoreau, • Brownson (a leading minister), • Parker (abolitionist and minister), • and • Hawthorne.

25. Brook Farm, Mass.

26. Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

27. Leaves of Grass • 21 – “Liberty Poem for Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia, Cuba, • and The Archipelogoes of the Sea” • COURAGE! my brother or my sister!      Keep on! • Liberty is to be subserved, what-     ever occurs; • That is nothing, that is quelled by one or two fail-     ures, or any number of failures, • Or by the indifference or ingratitude of the      people, • Or the show of the tushes of power -- soldiers,      cannon, penal statutes.

28. What we believe in waits latent forever through      Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia,      Cuba, and all the islands and archipelagoes      of the sea; • What we believe in invites no one, promises      nothing, sits in calmness and light, is positive      and composed, knows no discouragement, • Waits patiently its time -- a year -- a century --      a hundred centuries.

31. The battle rages with many a loud alarm and      frequent advance and retreat, • The infidel triumphs – • or supposes he triumphs, The prison, • scaffold, garrote, hand-cuffs, iron neck-     lace and anklet, lead-balls, do their work, • The named and unnamed heroes pass to other      spheres, • The great speakers and writers are exiled -- they      lie sick in distant lands,

32. The cause is asleep -- the strong throats are      choked with their own blood, The young men drop their eye-lashes toward the      ground when they meet, But for all this, liberty has not gone out of the      place, nor the infidel entered into possession.

33. When liberty goes out of a place, • it is not the first to go, nor the second or third to go, • It waits for all the rest to go -- it is the last. • When there are no more memories of the lovers •   of the whole of the nations of the world, • The lovers' names scouted in the public gatherings •    by the lips of the orators, • Boys not christened after them, but christened •   after traitors and murderers instead, • Laws for slaves sweet to the taste of people – •  the slave-huntacknowledged,

34. You or I walking abroad upon the earth, elated at the sight of slaves, no matter who they      are, And when all life and all the souls of men and      women are discharged from any part of the      earth,

35. “Iraqi-Freedom-Liberty”

36. Then shall the instinct of liberty be discharged      from that part of the earth, Then shall the infidel and the tyrant come into possession.

37. LIBERTY

38. Let Freedom Ring!

40. The Transcendentalists published a quarterly magazine, _The Dial_.It discussed many social and spiritual issues. A number of Transcendentalists were abolitionists, and some were involved in experimental utopian communities such as nearby Brook Farm. American Transcendental Romantics pushed radical individualism to the extreme. American writers often saw themselves as lonely explorers outside society and convention.

42. More information • http://www.ti.org/ • http://www.ti.org/aboutti.shtml

43. The American hero–like • Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab, or • Mark Twain’s Huck Finn, • typically face risk, • or even certain destruction, • in the pursuit of • metaphysical self-discovery.

45. http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/218/projects/lawrence/lawrence.htmhttp://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/218/projects/lawrence/lawrence.htm http://stpauls-oxnard.com/sogg/book9/page9_34.htm

47. Huck Finn