Roll No: 16
Semester: 2 (Batch 2022-24)
Enrolment number: 4069206420220023
Paper No: 108
Paper name: The American Literature
Paper code: 22401
Topic: Transcendentalism as a Literary Movement
Submitted to: Smt. S.B. Gardi, Department of English, MKBU
Email Address: rhrana148@gmail.com
Transcendentalism as a Literary Movement
A transcendentalism is an approach to philosophy, art, literature, spirituality, and a way of living. A group of writers and other intellectuals started what became known as the "Transcendental Club'' in 1836. Lasting until 1840, these club meetings focused on new ways of thinking and orienting oneself in the world. First and foremost, Transcendentalism emphasises intuition and personal knowledge and resists conformity to social norms. Transcendentalist writers and thinkers believe individuals are inherently good. Everyone has the power to “transcend” the chaos of society and use their own intellect for finding a sense of greater meaning and purpose.
The transcendentalist movement is generally recognized to be the first major watershed in American literary and intellectual history. Pioneered by Emerson, Thoreau, Orestes Brownson, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson Alcott (among others), Transcendentalism provided a springboard for the first distinctly American forays into intellectual culture: religion and religious reform, philosophy, literature, ecology, and spiritualism. This new collection, edited by eminent American literature scholar Joel Myerson, is the first anthology of the period to appear in over fifty years.
Although Ralph Waldo Emerson denied being a transcendentalist, he is widely regarded as the foremost philosophical proponent of American transcendentalism, followed by Henry David Thoreau. Emerson identified three practices through which we can exchange facts for ideas. The first practice involves idealism, whereby we view the world not as an independent force that can thwart our plans, but rather as a collection of images or representations that we create, making it benign and even beneficial. The second practice involves focusing on moral actions and finding joy in their goodness. The third practice, perhaps the most well-known aspect of transcendentalism, is the contemplation of beauty.
While many of us may naturally engage in these practices without associating them with Emerson, his contemporaries, or the period in American intellectual history when transcendentalism was prominent, we are, in effect, following transcendentalist principles when we seek to enhance our lives by moving away from facts and embracing ideas.
German Influence:
Emerson may have learned about Kant's transcendental idealism from Frederick Henry Hedge (1805-1890), a Unitarian minister who had studied in Germany and was fluent in German philosophy. In 1836, Hedge, Emerson, and George Ripley (1802-1880) formed an informal group called Hedge's Club to stimulate discussion of current philosophical and theological issues. For about seven years, the group met irregularly and grew to include at least a dozen people. It became known as the Transcendental Club. These meetings provided ample opportunity for Hedge to share his knowledge of Kant’s transcendental philosophy with Emerson.
Although they are very different philosophies, Kant's transcendental idealism clearly influenced American transcendentalism. Because the Americans did not preserve Kant's distinction between the transcendent and the transcendental, the philosophies are markedly different. This distinction serves as the foundation for Kant's entire system as presented in the Critique of Pure Reason, but the transcendentalists were not interested in systems or system frameworks. The sentiment behind Kant's words drew them to his philosophy. Kant's influence can be seen in the prevalent sentiment of American transcendentalism. Americans eagerly joined him in praising the rightness of moral action, the beauty of the world, and God's majesty.
British Influence:
The term "transcendental" conjures up images of Kant and the German philosophers he influenced, but German thinkers were not the only ones to influence American transcendentalism. Emerson admired William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whom he met during a trip to Europe in 1832. Their romanticism enchanted him, and he appears to have passed some of that enchantment on to his friend Thoreau. The British romantics shared Kant's and the American transcendentalists' love of beauty, morality, and God, but the romantics had developed a distinct perspective on our relationship to those realities. This viewpoint was a defining feature of American transcendentalism.
The British romantics saw a lot of goodness and beauty in the world. Simultaneously, they realised that all of that goodness and beauty is flawed. Human beings frequently exemplify great virtues, but this is not always the case. Their selfishness and cruelty can be monstrous at times. The sky, the meadow, and the rose are breathtakingly beautiful, but as time passes their beauty fades. This double vision of the romantics, although it did not betray any facts, nevertheless placed them in the uncomfortable position of both hating and loving the world.
Packer presents Transcendentalism as a living movement, evolving out of such origins as New England Unitarianism and finding early inspiration in European Romanticism. Transcendentalism changed religious beliefs, philosophical ideas, literary styles, and political allegiances. In addition, it was a social movement whose members collaborated on projects and formed close personal ties. Transcendentalism contains vigorous thought and expression throughout, says Packer; only a study of the entire movement can explain its continuing sway over American thought.
Through fresh readings of both the essential Transcendentalist texts and the best current scholarship, Packer conveys the movement's genuine expectations that its radical spirituality not only would lead to personal perfection but also would inspire solutions to such national problems as slavery and disfranchisement. Here is Transcendentalism in whole, with Emerson, Thoreau, and Fuller restored to their place alongside such contemporaries as Bronson Alcott, George Ripley, Jones Very, Theodore Parker, James Freeman Clarke, Orestes Brownson, and Frederick Henry Hedge.
Transcendental literature characteristics:
Although the most famous works in Transcendentalist literature are non-fiction, Transcendentalist literature spanned all genres, from poetry to short fiction, and novels. Here are some key characteristics you will find in Transcendentalist literature:
Psychology of inner experience:
Transcendentalist literature often centres around characters or speakers who engage in introspection and turn their attention inward. These individuals seek to explore their own inner psyche, while also often undertaking an outward exploration. They may do so by disconnecting from society, immersing themselves in nature, living in solitude, or devoting themselves to contemplation. These methods are considered to be classic Transcendentalist approaches to discovering the inner landscape of the individual.
Exaltation of the individual spirit:
Transcendentalist literature exalts the individual spirit and embraces the belief in the innate goodness and purity of the human soul. By rejecting organised religion and mainstream societal conventions, Transcendentalist writers placed great importance on the human spirit as inherently divine. As a result, many Transcendentalist works explore themes such as the nature of God, spirituality, and divinity. These meditations reflect the central role of individualism and the search for inner truth in Transcendentalist literature.
Independence and self-reliance:
Independence and self-reliance are core values of Transcendentalist literature. The movement arose from discontent with prevailing social structures and encouraged individuals to take charge of their own lives rather than relying on external forces. Thus, Transcendentalist works often feature characters or speakers who choose to chart their own course, marching to the beat of their own drum. This emphasis on individualism and self-reliance is a hallmark of Transcendentalist literature
Contemporary Relevance :
Theories attempting to unveil the essence of the world are intriguing and enlightening, providing insights into the limits of our knowledge. Although the transcendentalists never created a comprehensive theory, their spontaneous musings aimed to reinforce the practices that brought them closer to the good. Despite their inability to ground their practices in a complete theory of absolute reality, their devotion to their practices persisted throughout their lives. The practices of affirming moral action, contemplating beauty, and appreciating the creativity of consciousness are self-standing and do not require theoretical support.
Transcendentalism's practices hold immeasurable value. We often overlook the wonder of awareness and the remarkable products of our imagination. The focus on factual knowledge can obscure our ability to recognize beauty and diminish our appreciation of the rightness of moral action. Practising transcendentalism continually would enable us to view consciousness as an unparalleled wonder, appreciate even the smallest aspects of beauty, and recognize the value of a single moral action. While these practices cannot establish absolute reality, they enrich our experiences and align with the transcendentalists' ultimate goal.
Beauty:
If there is a single practice with which American transcendentalism can be identified, it is contemplation of beauty. Emerson responded to Plato’s theory that beauty, truth, and goodness are one by saying that even so beauty is the best of the three. Children seem to see it radiating from the most ordinary objects to their exquisite delight. Adults sometimes find themselves feeling like children again in its presence. The transcendentalists thought of beauty as eternal, because a mere glimpse of it was enough to make them drop everything and simply take in what they heard or saw with neither motive nor intention. This activity satisfied them so deeply that while they were thus engaged it was as if time stood still.
Emerson attempted to extend the influence of beauty far beyond momentary absorptions, motivated by the tremendous appeal of the former hypothesis. He arrived at the conclusion that everything is beautiful by arguing that beauty stems from purpose. Emerson saw nature as a unified, all-encompassing system governed by immutable moral laws. Everything in such a system serves a purpose in relation to the whole and is rendered beautiful by that relationship. In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius proposed something similar. He claimed that once the purpose of the foam in ravening beasts' mouths is revealed, it takes on a certain beauty.
The transcendentalists were excellent at stretching their imaginations. When they used this ability to its full potential, they saw an abstract world of interconnected ideas all around them. The allure of that world was so alluring that it blinded them to all external realities. Emerson even stated that there is a certain beauty in a corpse. We can't blame the transcendentalists for wanting to live forever in the presence of the beautiful, but the feats of imagination that they used to create an ideal world couldn't last forever. The transcendentalists were drawn to the beauty of ideas, but they also knew they had to navigate a world full of stubborn facts. We can see it once more.
Idealism:
The American transcendentalists' idealism, like their morality and love of beauty, took the form of practises before becoming, as an afterthought, a sort of theory. Emerson stood with his head between his legs, noting how this revealed a very different reality. His long country rambles instilled in him a profound sense of nature's lawfulness and rationality. His raging passions roiled within him often manifested themselves in the form of an essay or a poem or poem. Looking at the world from different perspectives, delighting in the patterns that nature creates, and writing poetry or prose are idealistic practices in the sense that they prioritise consciousness.
Morality :
Emerson was often criticised for not being an enthusiastic reformer, and there was some truth to these accusations. While his contemporaries in the US and Europe were eager to push for moral progress, Emerson was more inclined to be a scholar. According to him, the role of scholars is to cultivate goodness in others, but this requires a certain ability to see the bigger picture of things, which can only be gained through some distance from the fray of action. Emerson was a visionary and a poet at heart, rather than a man of action. While he empathised with the ideals of reformers, he found it uncomfortable to actively engage in reforms, as it was not his natural calling.
Conclusion :
Transcendentalism emerged as a literary and philosophical movement in the mid-nineteenth century, characterised by its focus on intuition, the individual's relationship with nature and divinity, self-reliance, and nonconformity. The movement's most prominent writers were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who were close friends. Another important figure was Margaret Fuller, who paved the way for early feminist writers and thinkers. Essential Transcendentalist texts include Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and Thoreau's "Walden." Transcendentalism had a significant influence on many writers and genres in American literature, including Walt Whitman and Jon Krakauer.
(Words 2040; Images 02)
Works Cited
Brodrick, Michael. “American Transcendentalism.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/am-trans/. Accessed 30 March 2023.
Myerson, Joel, editor. Transcendentalism: A Reader. Oxford University Press, USA, 2000.
Packer, Barbara L. The Transcendentalists. University of Georgia Press, 2007.
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