Minor Prophecy: Walt Whitman's New American ReligionIndiana University Press, 1989 - 240 pages Many of Walt Whitman's earliest readers hailed him as a religious prophet. For them, Leaves of Grass was more than literary art; it was sacred scripture. Recent scholarship has, however, dismissed those early enthusiasts as naive, if not crazy. David Kuebrich's new study of Whitman corrects that academic oversight by giving the early Whitmanites their due as the critics who most clearly perceived the nature and purpose of the poet's labors—to begin a new religion. Kuebrich's thorough, intelligent study, based squarely on textual evidence, offers a revisionist interpretation of America's great poet, returning religious vision and spirituality to the center of Whitman studies. |
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Page 23
... traditional religious world view with the intellectual cur- rents of modernity , he would disclose the world to possess new , hitherto un- thought of , dimensions of spiritual significance . In attempting to adapt his religious system ...
... traditional religious world view with the intellectual cur- rents of modernity , he would disclose the world to possess new , hitherto un- thought of , dimensions of spiritual significance . In attempting to adapt his religious system ...
Page 73
... traditional and since others , although traditional , are expressed in fresh lan- guage and invested with new levels of meaning , readers cannot draw upon their knowledge of traditional religious symbols to recognize and interpret ...
... traditional and since others , although traditional , are expressed in fresh lan- guage and invested with new levels of meaning , readers cannot draw upon their knowledge of traditional religious symbols to recognize and interpret ...
Page 210
... traditional symbols to the evolutionary world view of modern science . Seen from the perspective of the history of religions , this effort to modernize traditional religious symbols is perhaps Whitman's most significant achievement . 16 ...
... traditional symbols to the evolutionary world view of modern science . Seen from the perspective of the history of religions , this effort to modernize traditional religious symbols is perhaps Whitman's most significant achievement . 16 ...
Contents
Reconsidering Whitmans Intention | 1 |
A New Religion | 12 |
Interpreting Historys Meaning | 27 |
Copyright | |
8 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
afterlife American antebellum argued asserts belief body Brooklyn Daily Eagle Calamus Christian mysticism church Civil conceived consciousness cosmology Cradle creation critics culture democracy Democratic depicts describes discussion divine earlier earth edition Emerson Emory Holloway ence Essays evolutionary existence faith freedom Gay Wilson Allen God's homosexual human human sexuality Ibid ideas immanent immortality interpretation Kuebrich later Leaves of Grass Lilacs literature male manly love millennial millennialist millennium Miller modern moral nation natural fact night passage perfect perfectionism phrenology poem's poems poet poet's poetic political present Press proclaim progress prophet race Ralph Waldo Emerson readers realization reform religion religious cosmology religious democracy religious experience religious symbols religious vision sense sexual society Song soul soul's spiritual development stars suggests theme theory thought tion traditional transcendent understanding Union Univ universe Walt Whitman Whit Whitman believed Whitman's poetry women world view York