Slide 1 : The American Transcendental Movement
Slide 2 : Earliest American Literature to the Romantic Era
Earliest Literature to 1800:
Native Americans
Puritan and Colonial Literature
American Romanticism (1800 – 1860)
Slide 3 : History of Romanticism
(1800-1830)
A number of changing attitudes related to a sense of nationalism—a devotion to one’s nation or patriotism—not a philosophy yet
Slide 4 : The romantics’ emphasis on the individual reflects the political ideal set forth in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.”
Slide 5 : Romantic Literature and Attitudes:
Romantics were mostly interested in the expression of their own intuitive experiences.
Slide 6 : Subjects characteristic of Romantic attitudes:
NATURE
THE PAST
THE INNER WORLD OF HUMAN NATURE
Slide 7 : Subjects characteristic of Romantic attitudes:
NATURE: Romantics emphasized the beauty, strangeness, and the mystery of nature. As opposed to the rational laws of the realists/rationalists
They saw nature not as a machine, but as an organic process, constantly developing and changing.
They placed emphasis on the connection between the human imagination and the natural world.
The mystery and grandeur of the vast and still unknown land were part of their heritage and a powerful influence on their imaginations.
Slide 8 : Subjects characteristic of Romantic attitudes:
THE PAST:
The rise of nationalism brought with it a new interest in the American past.
American literature gradually developed a sense of a national past and of an emerging national character.
Slide 9 : Subjects characteristic of Romantic attitudes:
THE INNER WORLD OF HUMAN NATURE:
Romantics emphasized the emotions, intuition, and the individual and thus encouraged the exploration and the expression of the writer’s most private inner being.
Romantic writers became interested in the irrational depths of human nature.
This is extremely evident in The next selection ( The Devil and Tom walker)
Slide 10 : Characteristics of Transcendentalists:
Chiefly an attitude toward humans, nature and the world.
The term came from the German philosopher Immannuel Kant.
He wrote the Critique of Practical Reason (1788)—to him transcendental meant the knowledge or understanding a person gains intuitively, although it lies beyond direct physical experience.
Slide 11 : Characteristics of Transcendentalists:
They had a sense of intense individualism and self-reliance
They believed in the unity of God and the world
Slide 12 : Characteristics of Transcendentalists:
They had a sense of intense individualism and self-reliance
They believed in the unity of God and the world
They felt the real truths lay outside the experience of the senses, residing instead in the soul
Slide 13 : Characteristics of Transcendentalists:
They revered nature and its relationship to humanity.
They focused their attention on the human spirit.