Transcendentalism

To Transcend

• “To rise above” • “To go beyond the limits of”• trans (across) scandere (to climb)

Given these definitions, what do you think the philosophy of Transcendentalism is about?

Transcendentalism

A philosophical, literary, and political movement in the 1830’s and 40’s in America (mostly New England) thatrevolutionized American literature!

Was a protest against some of the norms and traditions of the time...

Societal Climate of New England 1830’s

• Almost everyone went to church • Looked to Europe for inspiration/imitation• Valued sense of duty & obedience to doctrine taught• Saw women as inferior to men• Believed God is separate from people• Truth comes from outside teachings

Old North Church, Boston

Transcendentalist Club of Boston, 1830’s

• Were not satisfied with dry church doctrine • Championed their own American inspiration• Valued each person’s access to inner truth (a radical belief at the time)• Saw women as equal to men, & slaves as humans • All nature and people are part of God – an “Over-Soul”• Truth comes from inside people – intuition – mysticism

These radical ideas of the time…

• profoundly influenced American literature, as it became more reflective and inspired by nature and experience (took on a journal-writing style)

• championed the individualism and self-reliance that America became known for

Famous Transcendentalists– Ralph Waldo Emerson – wrote essays

“Nature” and “Self-Reliance”

– Henry David Thoreau – wrote book Walden and essay “Civil Disobedience”- inspired Ghandi

– Louisa May Alcott – American author who wrote Little Women

– Emily Dickinson, American poet

– Walt Whitman, American poet

– John Muir – American who founded the Sierra Club and devoted his life to the preservation of forests

– Jack London- American author who wrote The Call of the Wild and White Fang

Modern day– How might we recognize a modern-day transcendentalist? Characteristics:– Protective of/interested in nature – Idealist– Mystic– Disdains materialism – Rebel/rogue – Seeks truth through intuition– Rejects societal rules – Can feel hemmed in by education or religious dogma– Chris McCandless, the main character in Into the Wild, is a modern-day

transcendentalist.