Political issues and events have always acted as a catalyst on
thought and art. In this pioneering study, Larry J. Reynolds argues
that the European revolutions of 1848-49 quickened the American
literary imagination and shaped the characters, plots, and themes
of the American renaissance. He traces the impact of the
revolutions on Emerson, Fuller, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and
Thoreau, showing that the upheavals abroad both inspired and
disturbed. Unlike many studies that have emphasized the national
features and revolutionary spirit of our classic American
literature, Reynolds's study, which places this literature in an
international context, reveals its conservative,
counterrevolutionary side. Emerson, the writer first considered,
witnessed the revolutionary turmoil in England and France during
the spring of 1848. Reynolds contends that Emerson disdained the
revolutions but was unable to resist their challenge: they inspired
him to articulate with renewed vigor the idealism at the center of
his spiritual life. Reynolds describes next the "Bloody June Days"
in Paris and examines their effect on American writings,
particularly Uncle Tom's Cabin. In his discussion of Margaret
Fuller, Reynolds compares her response to the socialist revolution
with Emerson's and demonstrates that her Tribune dispatches from
Italy, written during the Roman Revolution, constitute a powerful
historical narrative of unrecognized artistry and value. Turning to
the writings of Hawthorne and Melville, Reynolds explains that
these authors, who viewed the revolutions skeptically, were moved
to incorporate into their masterpieces the imagery and issues
attracting public attention around them. Focusing on Whitman's
fascination with the revolutionary events he covered as an editor,
Reynolds describes how under their influence Whitman conceived
himself as a poet of insurrection and began Leaves of Grass. He
concludes with Thoreau, showing how residual excitement about the
revolutions led to the reshaping of Walden into a spiritual
autobiography emphasizing purity and serenity.
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