This event ran from November 15 to December 15, 2011. Thanks to all who participated! You can find the final wrap-up post for this event here. (Comments have been closed below so that any discussion that happens about this event can now be centered in the final wrap-up post. Feel free to go there if you’re leaving a link to your Transcendentalist post after December 15.) Cheers! 
Original Post:
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This is a casual event, cooked up by Adam at Roof Beam Reader, Heather at Between the Covers, and myself on Twitter in late August.
It was a pretty casual discussion:
So what is Transcendentalism?
Okay, first, I don’t exactly know. I’m not well-educated on the topic. That’s why I’m exploring it (for the first time) this month. 
According to this source, Transcendentalism is -
“… [a] complex collection of beliefs: that the spark of divinity lies within man; that everything in the world is a microcosm of existence; that the individual soul is identical to the world soul, or Over-Soul, as Emerson called it. This belief in the Inner Light [during the nineteenth century] led to an emphasis on the authority of the Self–to Walt Whitman’s I, to the Emersonian doctrine of Self-Reliance, to Thoreau’s civil disobedience, and to the Utopian communities at Brook Farm and Fruitlands. By meditation, by communing with nature, through work and art, man could transcend his senses and attain an understanding of beauty and goodness and truth.”
Said Emerson (in his 1837 essay The American Scholar):
“We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds…A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men.”
My fledgling thoughts, as I begin my introduction to the Transcendentalists…
I’m thinking (guessing!) that the Transcendentalists were rebels in their day, who wanted to reform thinking in American by focusing on the individual mind rather than group think. Or, in Emerson’s words, focusing on “self-reliance.”
I know many of the Transcendentalists lived in Concord, Massachusetts. (The Emersons, the Thoreaus, the Alcotts.) So did a couple of folks who tried out and then opposed Transcendentalism: (see Hawthorne’s The Blithedale Romance and Louisa May Alcott’s “Transcendental Wild Oats.”)
The Transcendentalists weren’t well-accepted by many. Many were abolitionists and supported the INSANE notion that women should have equal rights. Some of them liked creating Utopias. (Ahem… Bronson Alcott! See my post on his CRAZY utopian escapade.)
Things I (think) many Transcendentalists practiced:
- critiques of contemporary society
- critiques of conformity and materialism
- critiques of rigid rationalism
- opposition to slavery
- opposition to the ritualism of established religious institutions
- the belief that a personal relationship with God founded on reason is interfered with by religious authority
- the inclination to ignore social codes and rely on self to learn what is right
- distinctions between morality and law
- the search for freedom, knowledge, equality and truth
- belief in the high potential of human nature
- belief in the idea that peaceful souls won’t attract violence
- experiments in self-reliance: (Walden, Brook Farm, Fruitlands)
Transcendentalism developed in the 1830s and 1840s in America as a literary protest against the state of American culture at the time. It was rooted in the transcendental philosophy of German thinker Immanuel Kant, who called “all knowledge transcendental which is concerned not with objects but with our mode of knowing objects.”
(I honestly have no idea what the Germans believed that sparked Transcendental thinking in America. I tried to read up on it, but every article cited a great many German thinkers and works of literature that fell flat on this unread mind! Again, feel free to share your thoughts at your blog, or within the comments below! I’m hoping I learn something on this topic during this event, through my own reading.)
One article explains as follows:
“German philosopher Kant raised both questions and insights into the religious and philosophical thinking about reason and religion. This new generation looked at the previous generation’s rebellions of the early 19th century Unitarians and Universalists against traditional Trinitarianism and against Calvinist predestinationarianism. This new generation decided that the revolutions had not gone far enough, and had stayed too much in the rational mode. ‘Corpse-cold’ Emerson called the previous generation of rational religion.”
I (think) Transcendentalism was also influenced by the writing of Coleridge and Wordsworth (British Romantics), whom Emerson met while touring Europe in 1832, as well as by German Transcendentalism (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whom I’ve not yet read).
Going a bit deeper:
[Please read the following as nothing more than my clumsy search for Transcendentalism's purpose. I am not well-read on this topic and can offer only scanty notes, flawed by a lack of knowledge]:Basically, what I (think) Transcendentalism boils down to is the idea that the only verifiable reality is self. Transcendentalism is a belief in a higher kind of knowledge than that achieved by human reason. It centers around the idea that there is an absolute goodness in existence, and that this absolute goodness is attainable only through intuition.
In New England, which was swelling with Unitarian beliefs in the nineteenth century (Emerson himself was the son of a Unitarian minister), the Transcendentalists promoted peace through the development of the mind as well as the soul, and through the belief that it is important not only to point out what is amiss in the world, but to make a concerted effort to improve it. Intuition, rather than reason, was regarded as the highest human faculty. The Transcendentalists promoted the idea that in order to comprehend God, one must transcend reason and go beyond it to the level of the soul, where all people have access to divine inspiration.
The American Transcendentalist movement exploded in New England with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1836 essay Nature, which was written after he met Coleridge and Wordsworth in Europe four years prior.
Later in the same year, a group of prominent New England intellectuals, including Emerson himself, founded the Transcendental Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The club gathered at various members’ houses and included Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Frederick Henry Hedge, W. E. Channing and W. H. Channing, Theodore Parker, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Peabody, George Ripley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Thoreau, and Jones Very. The members of this club published their articles, essays, lectures and poems in a literary journal called The Dial from 1840-1844. Their writings were rejected from other influential journals of the time, like the North American Review and the Christian Examiner.
The Transcendentalist Club was founded not long after (okay, several decades after) America’s own revolution and operated in the belief that a new era was at hand in America.
Said Susan Cheever of Transcendentalism in her book American Bloomsbury (a book I plan to read for this event!):
“The intellectual revolution… had come as certainly as the glorious days of 1776. It was a revolution that gently toppled God off his throne and replaced him with nature, with the glory of the physical world, and with the best things in the human heart. It freed men and women from the slavery of Calvinism. It blossomed in Thoreau’s ideas and in his beautiful portrait of nature and in Hawthorne’s brilliantly etched portraits of society, and finally with a Louisa May Alcott novel that memorialized the whole fabulous time.”
(I’m not sure the Transcendentalists actually hoped to topple God? I think instead many hoped to topple religion. That’s one of the things I’ll be curious about learning, as I explore Thoreau, Emerson, and Fuller this month.)
The above quote was found at the blog Louisa May Alcott is my Passion, where Susan discussed (before I did here) her skepticism about the idea of Transcendentalists attempting to “topple God.”
The Transcendentalist movement in New England did not survive the American Civil War and its aftermath.
But during its brief literary reign, it brought the world much to read by Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, and more.
The Transcendentalist Event celebrates that literature and encourages readers to become absorbed for a while in a movement that may have died early, but lit brightly for a few years, in New England, America.
Also, see:
- Transcendentalism – Wikipedia
- A Clear Introduction to Transcendentalism (via Louisa May Alcott is My Passion)
- A fairly approachable article on the definition of Transcendentalism
Event details:
Dates:
-
November 15 through December 15.
Plan:
- to read works inspired by the Transcendentalist movement in America (either for or against)
Participation:
- read a Transcendentalist work (or several works)
- when you finish reading it, post about it at your blog, and comment in this post (below) with the link to your Transcendentalist post.
- That’s it!
Guidelines:
- You can read as many works or as few works as you please. (A poem counts.)
- You can leave links to as many posts as you please in this post through December 15 – but please make sure they lead back to posts discussing Transcendentalism, a work by a Transcendentalist, or a Transcendentalist author. I’ll delete anything that appears to be SPAM, as well as repeat links.
- You DO NOT have to post about the works you read. Feel free to comment below with your thoughts when you finish a work, or just linger to see what others read, so you can visit their posts.
- You are NOT required to comment on any posts, even if you link your post below. Discussion is not mandatory.
- Feel free to comment/chat below, even if you aren’t planning to participate in the event. All knowledge is useful.
Master Post after the Event:
On December 16:
- The event ends!
- If time permits, I will do a final post linking all the participants’ posts (that were left in the comments in this post, below) so we can visit one another. I don’t want to become overwhelmed at the end of the month, so this is only a possibility, depending on my schedule and how much participation is generated.
- As much as I’d LOVE it if people keep writing and posting about the Transcendentalists after December 15, I won’t be adding any posts to a master list (should I post one) that are linked after December 15.
So, what should you read to participate in this Transcendentalist Event?
Really, you could read anything associated with the Transcendentalists — for or against the movement, or even simply inspired by the movement (like Whitman or Emily Dickinson). I’m thinking posts about Immanuel Kant, Coleridge, Wordsworth, and other Transcendental influences outside America are also permissible. It’d be helpful though, if you choose to take this path, if you link what you read back to the New England Transcendentalists.
Check out the resources (below) and go with your gut! (None of us are going to judge you! The idea is to be enthusiastic.)
However, if you’re looking for some tips on what “counts” as a Transcendentalist work:
- works by the Transcendentalists (includes people in the Transcendental Club as well as people close to that circle) – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Emily Dickinson, William Ellery Channing, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, A. Bronson Alcott, Walt Whitman (etc)… (List of Transcendentalist Writers/Artists)
- works by artists of the American Renaissance who found it difficult to accept Transcendentalist optimism: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Edgar Allen Poe… (they are in the conversation, even if they don’t agree with Transcendentalism.)
- works by influences on Transcendentalism outside America: William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Immanuel Kant, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe…
- works by people influenced by Transcendentalism outside America (Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi…) – each were influenced by Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience.
- works by authors/artists who were inspired by Transcendentalism after the American Civil War (I read that the Harlem Renaissance and the Beat Generation were inspired by Transcendentalism? I haven’t researched this.)
- works about Transcendentalism’s history, writers, followers, etc.
Also, see:
- I encourage you to take a look at the conversation in the original sign-up post (there’s a great discussion there about which works might be considered Transcendentalist, as advised by Literary Rob of The American Literary Blog. He’s pretty knowledgable on the topic. )
Participant List:
I’ve listed below only those who made clear in the original sign-up post that they intend to take part in this event. I’ve listed their (possible) stated reading selections for the month right after their name.
I will not be adding any more names to the participant list below, because I have this whole other thing I’m doing (a life.) But you are most welcome to join us any time in the month! Just leave your link and what you plan to read (no pressure!) in the comments within this post.
Any titles listed after participant names below were only their brainstorm ideas back in September! No pressure is intended by posting this list. Participation is voluntary!! I just thought it’d be fun to see what everyone was thinking about reading this month, and see how we do:
Participants:
- Lorren: rereading some of Emerson’s essays
- Adam: Emerson (Nature, Self-Reliance, and possibly The Transcendentalist or Address to Harvard Divinity School); Thoreau’s Walden and maybe some of his smaller works; a bunch of Whitman
- Jillian: Cheever, Susan – American Bloomsbury; Emerson – Essays, Lectures and Poems; Thoreau– Walden, or Life in the Woods; Fuller: Woman in the Nineteenth Century
- Heather: Thoreau’s Walden; Emerson’s “Nature” and “Self-Reliance”; some poems by Dickinson and Whitman; Fuller, too. (You can see a post listing Heather’s picks for the month here. It just went up yesterday. She ended up deciding not to read Walden because she already reads it so often.)
- amanda: an essay or two — perhaps Walden
- Susan Bailey: [no plans listed]
- Allie: definitely Whitman; perhaps some Thoreau and Emerson for her project list
- Risa: might be reading “a whole Mark Twain” - perhaps A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court or The Prince and the Pauper…
- carolinareads: [no plans listed]
- Ingrid: Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience
- pagesofjulia: (might) read some Thoreau
- penitentialpelican: Emily Dickinson and possibly some Emerson
- Sandra: Emerson’s Nature and Selected Essays to start and a dip into Whitman’s Leaves of Grass
- Che: a few of Twain’s short stories, and perhaps some Hawthorne, time permitting
(don’t forget to scan the comments below to see if others are participating!)
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” — Henry David Thoreau
- Our event button was contributed by Heather. Thanks Heather!
I love how detailed this post is! I don’t think I can manage a novel, but I might try an essay, short stor(ies) or poem(s). I knew the Transcendentalist movement was inspired by the likes of Wordsworth and Coleridge, however, I also learnt that God had no place in the T-movement, that the movement was all about ‘Self’ and self alone. I should like to see if your reading would prove otherwise, because I’ve never really bothered to find out. Like I’ve said elsewhere before, my interest in American Lit has only recently taken tentative flight.
I’ll definitely be keeping track of this event’s progress. I feel I have MUCH to learn about this era in the history of American Literature!
Btw, this is completely off topic, but I was wondering, Jillian …erm, how do you put those in-post links? I’ve been trying to figure it out but I haven’t succeeded…
Thanks, Risa!
Do you mean the anchors? I can do it but can’t possibly explain it. I just Googled how to add anchors into a post.
Here’s a possible help: scroll to HTML LINK: Named Anchors.
Hope that helps.
Yep! That’s it!…I had no idea these in-post links were called anchors. Thank you.
You’re welcome.
Squee! Since most of what I’m reading are shorter works, I think I’m going to see if I can find them electronically. I wona Nook about two weeks ago and haven’t used it yet – so this could be a great chance to download some small reading items to bring with me to work and read on lunch breaks, etc. I’ve got my physical copy of the Complete Works of Walt Whitman, though, and I don’t think I could bear to read him electronically. Emerson and Thoreau get the new age approach. Lol
Oh, agreed. Whitman must be in print.
(Won a Nook? That’s an awesome prize!)
I’m reading John Matteson’s Eden’s Outcasts and am planning several posts on the rise, fall and redemption of Bronson Alcott. I’m also reading Louisa’s A Modern Mephistopheles. I will enjoy keeping up with this challenge and look forward to what everybody has to say!
I’m very curious about Eden’s Outcasts — how it compares to Reisen’s biography, for example. I keep debating getting a copy.
I’ve never heard of that title you’re reading by Louisa. Curious!
Woo hoo!! I think I’ll read some RWE essays as well.
Yay! Me too.
[...] The Transcendentalist Event: Starts Today! | A Room of One's Own – November 15, 2011 [...] and Whitman; Fuller, too. (You can see a post listing Heather’s picks for the month here. It just went up yesterday. She ended up deciding not to read Walden because she already reads it [...] [...]
Great introductory post, Jillian!
I’ve been reading Emerson for the past couple of days (so far two essays Nature and The Transcendentalist – the latter I found strangely funny in parts). I hadn’t planned on reading Walden until later but these essays have totally put me in the mood, so tomorrow I’m starting Self-Reliance and then it’s off to Walden Pond!!
My understanding of Transcendentalism is still incredibly fuzzy as well. But from what I’ve read so far, that was the case even back then when it was described as vague and obscure. Some people who listened to Emerson identified with him, but many admitted to not understanding a word he said.
I don’t seem to have a copy of The Transcendentalist, so I’ll be curious about your thoughts on that one.
And thanks for that last! It’s good to know that, even in the nineteenth century, the meaning of Transcendentalism was a bit unclear.
How about Little Women? I’m only half joking as I really did just finish it and LMA did have strong ties to transcendentalism, though I honestly don’t know whether LW reflects the philosophy or not.
If you’re asking if reading Little Women is valid for the event, of course! Her life was hugely affected by Transcendentalism. As I said above, the “reading list” for this event is fairly open. You’re really commanding the ship, not myself or anyone else in the group. The idea is to learn, and my part in it is only to encourage the exploration and provide a place to share our discoveries as a group.
If you’re asking if someone knows if Louisa May Alcott was a Transcendentalist, I’ll decline to answer (and leave it open to anyone who may have something to share), because I don’t actually know. I’m still exploring. My gut feeling? She was inspired by Transcendentalism in some ways, and in some ways found it deeply frustrating. (I’ll again direct you to my post on her father’s Utopian experiment, or to this post and this post for an exploration I did of Louisa May Alcott last year. You might also check out this conversation, already linked above.)
Ultimately though? This event is about exploring Transcendentalism and sharing what we learn. I hope you dive into this question for yourself, and share your thoughts. That’s what this event is about.
(PS – I ADORED LIttle Women and plan to reread it in 2012.)
[...] barely read a word since my last post. I don’t know what’s gotten into me… But Tea with Transcendentalists started today, and I am determined to read Walden and “Civil Disobedience” by December [...]
Good luck with your event. I’m excited to read the posts!
Thank you! (On behalf of the group.)
I read a couple of Mark Twain’s short stories. Here’s my post.
http://kafkatokindergarten.blogspot.com/2011/11/short-stories-on-wednesday-heavenly.html
I look forward to reading everyone else posts here. This event is a great idea Jillian.
Thanks, Che! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
I want to participate in this event-for now I think I will first post on Edgar Allen Poe’s story “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” in which he expresses his doubts about Transcendentalism -This is a great event and I am looking forward to the posts it will generate.
Welcome!
I completed my post on Edgar Allan Poe’s very strange short story “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” which is pretty much a direct attack on the influence of the Transcendentalists. I include in my post a link to the story and some comments on Transcendentalism. I am looking forward to all the future posts over the next month
here is a link to my post which I hope you do not mind me posting here
http://rereadinglives.blogspot.com/2011/11/never-bet-devil-your-head-by-edgar.html
No, of course I don’t mind, Mel. You and all others are welcome to use this space to link as many posts as you write on Transcendentalism and your reading of its work. Please feel free to do this so others can find your posts.
The story sounds great! I’ve only read a bit of Poe at this point. I had no idea until I announced this project that he had anything to do with the Transcendentalist movement, for or against. I love the way history and literature begins to make links, as we explore it.
I think this week I will post on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Artist of the Beautiful” which deals with the Transcendentalist conception of art and the the week after that Herman Melville’s short story “”Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!” which many see as a satire of Thoreau
I love that you’re focusing on the anti-Transcendentalists for this event. That’s a great perspective on the movement, and fascinating to read about.
I read Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” last night. You might find that one interesting.
I posted a anti-transcendentalist view on Moby Dick
http://www.aesoptooz.com/2011/11/17/moby-dick-by-herman-melville/
I only just touched on the subject. I might do another post about the Transcendentalist and anti-trans. aspects on the book because I suspect both are to be found because Melville struggled between the two. I could be wrong though, I still need to read more on this movement.
I’m so glad you brought up this topic while I was reading Moby Dick because I probably would have completely missed that aspect of the book
Great! I’m still in the middle of reading this book but may stop by your place before I finish, just to see the connections you make with Transcendentalism. Thanks!
I love Transcendentalist writers! I wish I could read Poe right now, he is one of my favorites. If I read something I will let you know!
Thanks!
I’ve started WALDEN but I’m so not a fan of it. So dry, so opinionated. So …. ugh. I just am not impressed with his whole premise. He thinks so highly of himself compared to everyone else. The talk of nature is very pretty, and I like that part of it. Off to try to read some more.
Also, I’ve started The Scarlett Letter again. I’ll probably finish that and post about it too but not sure how that fits in to Transcendentalism.
I haven’t started Walden yet, but I’m loving (loving!) what I’ve read of Thoreau so far. I really feel I’m going to like Walden…
The Scarlet Letter was (I believe) a response against the idealism of the Transcendentalist philosophy. It suggests that self-reliance can lead to what happens in 17th century Salem.
Hawthorne was apparently inspired by Margaret Fuller when he wrote it. He was (I’ve read) in love with her. They lived together in Concord for a while, where she was also seeing a married Emerson. She bore an illegitimate child in Italy (to a different man) and was supposedly the inspiration for Hester Prynne.
I posted today on Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance, it’s about a love triangle set on a Transcendentalist utopian farm community
http://www.aesoptooz.com/2011/11/28/the-blithedale-romance-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/
Awesome! I can’t wait to check it out. I LOVE what I’ve read of Hawthorne so far.
Here’s my review of Civil Disobedience!:
http://thebluebookcase.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-civil-disobedience-by-henry.html
… I didn’t like it as much as I hoped I would.
Thanks Ingrid! (And sorry about that!)
Here is my post from last week about Walden (didn’t like). http://reviews.rebeccareid.com/thoughts-on-transcendentalism-and-walden-by-henry-david-thoreau/
And my first post on The Scarlet Letter. http://reviews.rebeccareid.com/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne-preliminary-thoughts/ I’ll probably post more tomorrow and/or Friday. I have a lot to say. It’s such a deep book..
Thanks Rebecca! I especially look forward to your thoughts on Hawthorne. I know I didn’t get nearly enough out of my first read.
For anyone who’s interested: all of my posts for this event are filed under Transcendentalist Event. I’ll list them individually when I put up the final wrap-up post.
[...] had it not been for the currently on-going Transcendentalist Month, I would have likely picked up “Civil Disobedience” in light of various current events. From [...]
I finally have a post up! Here’s my post on Civil Disobedience:
http://simplerpastimes.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/completed-on-the-duty-of-civil-disobedience/
Great!
Transcendentalist posts from Louisa May Alcott is My Passion:
Bronson Alcott reflections:
Part One http://louisamayalcottismypassion.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/the-rise-fall-and-redemption-of-bronson-alcott-part-1-reflections-on-edens-outcasts/
Part Two http://louisamayalcottismypassion.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/finding-his-mission-bronson-alcott-part-2-reflections-on-edens-outcasts/
Discussion on this question posed by Jillian: If Bronson Alcott was a follower of Transcendentalism (self-reliance), why does he scold Louisa May for filling her journal with thoughts of self?
http://louisamayalcottismypassion.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/this-question-needs-your-input/
Can’t wait to check it out! Thanks for participating! (As if you could help it!)
I’ve read and reviewed The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne at http://kafkatokindergarten.blogspot.com/2011/12/scarlett-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne.html
I liked it more than I expected to. Definitely will be reading more Hawthorne in the future.
Thanks Che! (I liked that one too.)
[...] I decided to read Louisa May Alcott’s Behind a Mask for Transcendentalist Month, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The brief blurb claimed it was so unlike the usual [...]
Finally, I’ve managed to find the time and the inclination to write out a post on Behind a Mask!
….. As I typed out my post I grew to like that piece a great deal more…is that possible?
Anyway, here be the link.
Awesome! Thanks, Risa!
I’m only about 1/3 through Walden, but I wanted to post something before the month was officially over:
http://simplerpastimes.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/contemplating-walden/
Thanks for hosting!
Awesome – thanks Amanda! Can’t wait to read your thoughts. I’m about 1/2 through Walden and absolutely LOVE it so far. I hope to finish tonight and get it written about. Didn’t have time to finish Emerson in time, but I’ll still be reading him this week. Cheers!
Here’s my wrap-up post that includes links! Thank you again for hosting this, Jill! Transcendentalist Event Wrap-up
No problem, Heather! I’m really glad we did this.
This was a great event!
I failed to give you my link on Civil Disobedience earlier, so here it is:
http://aliteraryodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/12/book-119-civil-disobedience-by-henry.html
And I finally stopped procrastinating and finished my Walden post today. I know, I’m a slacker.
http://aliteraryodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/12/book-121-walden-by-henry-david-thoreau.html
Yay! Can’t wait to read your Walden thoughts! I’m holding off on reading others’ thoughts on that one, until I finish the book myself.