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TRANSCENDENTALISM
1840-1860
THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE
Renaissance: means “rebirth.” Describes
the explosion of literary genius.
Transcendentalism is the American
equivalent of Europe’s Renaissance.
Europe’s Renaissance occurred
between 1300 and 1700.
TRANSCENDENTALISM
The idea that to understand God, the universe,
the self and other important matters, one must
transcend (or go beyond) the everyday
experiences of the natural world.
BIG IDEAS
• The physical facts of the natural word are
a doorway to the spiritual or ideal world.
- “physical facts” being things found in
nature, such as:
lakes and oceans,
flowers or animals.
BIG IDEAS
• Self-Reliance and individualism must outweigh
external authority and blind conformity to
custom and tradition.
- That means: independence is more important
than following the crowd.
• Spontaneous feelings and intuition (or a gut
feeling) are better than deliberate thought and
rationality.
CHARACTERISTICS
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Free thought (individualism)
Confidence
Importance of nature
Self-Reliance (independence)
Non-conformity
IN SUMMARY:
The whole era was all about moving past
oneself to experience greater, better
things, even if it went against the natural
grain of society.
MODERN-DAY EXAMPLES
• Timothy Treadwell
• Music
HOMEWORK:
Find a song that has a Transcendentalist
theme. Write a paragraph explaining what in
that song gives you that idea. If you can, bring
in the lyrics. Definitely include the song title
and artist name in your paragraph.
Due MONDAY
25 points