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On The Brink Of The Waters Of Life And Truth, We Are Miserably Dying: Ralph Waldo Emerson As A Predecessor To Deconstruction And Postmodernism, Michael A. Deery
On The Brink Of The Waters Of Life And Truth, We Are Miserably Dying: Ralph Waldo Emerson As A Predecessor To Deconstruction And Postmodernism, Michael A. Deery
ETD Archive
Between his pivotal essays "Nature" in 1836 and "The Poet" in 1844, Ralph Waldo Emerson's increasingly negative and distrustful view of language can best be described as a precursor to deconstruction and postmodernism. Contemporary critics are too quick to dismiss a deconstructionist Emerson. There is evidence within his major essays that Emerson's understanding of language not only leads him to public and private displays of pessimism, but also to feelings of internal solipsism, agnosticism, and epistemological anxiety. Emerson demanded that mankind should utilize nature and aesthetics to experience the sublime and an immediate and original relationship with God. Yet, Emerson's …
Transcendentalism In The Private Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rachel Sherwood
Transcendentalism In The Private Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rachel Sherwood
Master's Theses
This paper is designed to interpret Transcendentalism by showing its origins and influences and to give the reader a view into the private journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The first chapter is devoted to a study of Transcendentalism and the question of its taking root in the Boston area in the 1830's. The second chapter presents a study of Emerson as he debated the forces of his universe and formulated a philosophy to explain the vicissitudes of life. It is necessary to relate Emerson's views with the events of his life. The years covered in the second chapter are 1820-1835.