Broader in scope than any previous literary study of the transcendentalists, this rewarding book analyzes the theories and forms characteristic of a vital group of American writers, as well as the principles and vision underlying transcendentalism. All the movement’s major literary figures and forms are considered in detail. Lawrence Buell combines intellectual history and critical explication, giving equal attention to general trends and to particular works and individuals. His chapters on conversation, religious discourse, catalog rhetoric, and literary travelogue treat intensively topics that have been relatively neglected. His analyses of Ellery Channing’s poetry and the use of persona in Emerson and Very are also innovative. In the final section, he offers the first systematic account of the autobiographical tradition in transcendentalist writing.This incisive and sympathetic overview of transcendentalist writing and thought will attract readers interested in American culture, and it will suggest new critical approaches to nonfiction.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Introduction
Part I. Background and General Principles
1. The Emergence of the Transcendentalist Aesthetic from American Unitarianism
2. Transcendentalist Literary Method: Inspiration versus Craftsmanship
Part II. The Living Word
3. From Conversation to Essay
4. From Sermon to Scripture
Part III. Word and World: Nature as a Model for Literary Form
5. Emerson and the Idea of Microcosmic Form
6. Catalogue Rhetoric
7. Thoreau and the Literary Excursion
8. Thoreau’s A Week
9. Ellery Channing: The Major Phase of a Minor Poet
Part IV. The First Person
10. Transcendentalist Self-Examination and Autobiographical Tradition
11. Emerson and Thoreau: Soul versus Self
12. Transcendental Egoism in Very and Whitman
Index
Über den Autor
Lawrence Buell is Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature Emeritus at Harvard University. He is the author of many books, including, most recently, The Dream of the Great American Novel.Ebooks vom selben Autor / Herausgeber
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