The Original Eye": Whitman, Schelling and the Return to Origins (original) (raw)
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Growth and Development of Individualism and Universalism in Selected Poems of Walt Whitman
African Research Review, 2008
Whitman's poetry is a rich subject for psychoanalytic interpretation and this has always had a unique appeal to literary critics as well as research scholars. This study is a critical and psychoanalytical study on a few selected poems of Whitman. The poems have been selected from the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass that featured Whitman's most famous poem Song of Myself which is the main poem used throughout. Other poems were selected as a support to identify Whitman's belief that every individual is born with a unique identity and the individual strives continuously to realize this individuality that is hidden in the various challenges of life, both the darker and the lighter aspects of life. A critical analysis together with the psychoanalytical approach has been used to establish Whitman's profound interest in the exploration of the growth and development of the 'child or individual's' journey through chaotic conditions in the natural world. This study has thus, helped the author to comprehend the fact that this unquenchable desire for an individual's growth and development is not epiphanic, but is the final act of the emergence of the 'child or individual' into a full-fledged 'poet' after facing the various challenges of life.
EXPLORATION OF THE CONCEPT OF " I " IN WALT WHITMAN'S SONG OF MYSELF
This research is an attempt to study the concept of " I " in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. His Song of Myself offers an insight into Whitman's quest for the self-discovery. According to Whitman, it is nothing else but the other name of a journey that is interpreted as a movement from " intrapersonal " to " interpersonal " and finally leading to " transpersonal ". For Whitman, it is not something static rather an ongoing process. It is a universal phenomenon extended to the whole humanity. I have tried to classify this journey of selfhood into four stages. In the first stage, he becomes conscious of his self; in the second stage, his concept of the self develops to include the souls of all men; in the third stage, it embraces God and in the fourth stage, the entire universe. Walt Whitman seems to be toiling extremely hard to make his readers, his companions. So that they can experience exactly what Whitman has experienced, so that the difference between " I " and " you " could be blurred. Walt Whitman, in fact, invites others to the journey of selfhood. " Song of Myself " envisions the " I " enraptured by senses, embracing all people and places from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. More central to his transpersonal flight is the view of the poem as a means of expressing his " self " in universal terms. A cosmic consciousness manifests and Whitman's imagination is finally attuned with the infinite. And when the depth of this realization is achieved, there is an onset of fervent understanding. Walt Whitman appeared on the American literary scene when the Americans were trying to solidify a national identity. Whitman's discovery of himself is the discovery of America. Whitman loved the world and the people in it and enjoyed traveling about America, singing the praises of its natural beauty and wealth, the vitality of its people, the pioneer spirit and the excitement of building a new nation on a new principle of individual freedom and vision. The discovery of potential in American continent goes along with the discovery of the potential within his self and vice versa. The sense of independence, exploration, individuality, and democracy equates
While the traits that Whitman is famous for - all encompassing humanism and positivity - are in vast supply in 'Song of Myself', this essay investigates how various parts of his poem aggressively contradict this reading. Using deconstruction and close-reading, I found a way to, in this brief work, completely redefine and re-evaluate Whitman's authorial purpose and attitude. This essay was notable in receiving an 85%.
Myself: Walt Whitman's Political, Theological Creature
Anglican theological review, 2010
Examining Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself” (from his 1855 collection Leaves of Grass), this article expounds upon the subject formation contained within it: the self. This self, developed through a variant of creation myth, is inflected with both political and theological agendas. The complex democratic negotiation of these poles places Whitman’s poem in the realm of political theology. The first half of the essay traces the theological inflections in the poem: the impact, in other words, of the name of God on the formation, development, or thriving of the self. It also sketches the contours of Whitman’s political context and lays bare some of his political agendas. The latter half of the essay speculates on some potential consequences of the development of this self and raises the question: How deeply is it already embedded in American democratic subjectivity?