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abbysees's review
4.0
Democratic Vistas is a long essay written by Walt Whitman shortly after the end of the Civil War. In this essay, Whitman argues that the United States has never been able to embrace the democratic spirit. Yet he doesn't believe that the United States will engender democracy through policy changes (like suffrage, Reconstruction, campaigns for civil rights), but through producing a democratic literature. In his essay, he charges the "literatus,"a priestly class [of writers] that can speak to common people," to write a literature that embraces populism and challenges elitist structures. Through literature, he believes that the American people can reconnect with their inner spirit--a universalist spirit that can connect them with the whole of humanity and nature.
There are things that I really love about transcendentalist writing: I love the charge to connect with an inner self that is linked to the universe. In my darkest moments, I find this a powerful idea to meditate upon. I also like the idea that writers who write honestly and compassionately can effect change. Art can act as impetus for social change; this I believe.
But it's also pretty irritating to read Whitman dismiss campaigns for increased suffrage and civil rights. He makes it clear that he isn't opposed to either, he just doesn't think it really matters. In this sense, I would caution anyone reading Democratic Vistas to read it skeptically. Question Whitman when he makes assertions you don't agree with it. I'd like to think that Whitman would like this.
Democratic Vistas isn't the easiest read--it's winding, clearly written out of order, and its sentence structure can be challenging. But it's a really interesting historical document and under-read 19th century text that fundamentally interrogates what democracy is and thinks through how to get there.
There are things that I really love about transcendentalist writing: I love the charge to connect with an inner self that is linked to the universe. In my darkest moments, I find this a powerful idea to meditate upon. I also like the idea that writers who write honestly and compassionately can effect change. Art can act as impetus for social change; this I believe.
But it's also pretty irritating to read Whitman dismiss campaigns for increased suffrage and civil rights. He makes it clear that he isn't opposed to either, he just doesn't think it really matters. In this sense, I would caution anyone reading Democratic Vistas to read it skeptically. Question Whitman when he makes assertions you don't agree with it. I'd like to think that Whitman would like this.
Democratic Vistas isn't the easiest read--it's winding, clearly written out of order, and its sentence structure can be challenging. But it's a really interesting historical document and under-read 19th century text that fundamentally interrogates what democracy is and thinks through how to get there.
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