LITR 4328 American Renaissance / Model Assignments

Sample Student Research Project 2015: Journal

Joshua Van Horn

The Evolution of Transcendentalism

          Learning is sometimes approached with too narrow of a scope. Instead of understanding how a body functions in relation to all of its parts, people typically tend to limit their focus towards particular members of a given whole. When learning, it is important to dig deep into a single subject in order to gain a strong grasp of the material, but it is also productive, and rewarding, to realize how particular subjects relate to other subjects, what influence they have on one another, and ultimately, how the subjects, working as a system, affect culture at large.  One of the benefits of a formal education is that it offers one the ability to be trained across multiple disciplines in a single period of time, promoting a pattern of thought that is both thorough and expansive. Throughout my academic career, I have often been reminded of this notion when recognizing how different forms of knowledge gained in particular courses overlap with one another.

Interest in the subject of this journal first arose when coming across the writings of German Theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher in my philosophy of religion course. After reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s, Nature, a week prior, I recognized many similarities in the two men’s writings, and wondered whether or not Schleiermacher had any influence on Emerson’s transcendentalism. Once I discovered that there existed a direct link between Schleiermacher and the philosophy of transcendentalism, I began to think about other possible influences, and furthermore, how the philosophy of transcendentalism influenced others. In this journal, I will be exploring the evolution of transcendentalism—what sparked its birth, its cultural impact on its contemporaries, and what influence it had on future generations of thought and art. Among other things, I will be focusing in on the writings of Friedrich Schleiermacher, the formation of Brook Farm, and how transcendentalism appears in the films of director Terrence Malick. In doing so, I plan to better understand transcendentalism’s dilatant reach across history, and its significance as a cultural artifact.  

          Friedrich Schleiermacher and His Relation to Transcendentalism

When reading transcendentalist authors it is obvious that their writings have been influenced by a variety of other religions expressions. As I have learned in Dr. White’s American Renaissance course, transcendentalism grew out of the Unitarian movement, which itself, descended from a puritan tradition. This being the case, transcendentalism reflects many of the themes found in Christianity. Where it diverts from Christianity, however, is that transcendentalism is inclusive of other beliefs, offering a platform for people to be united in their religions affections. As an intellectual movement, transcendentalism, like Unitarianism, was thought of as more sophisticated than other religions, appealing to those individuals who were familiar with notions found in higher education. With that being said, it is easy to understand how transcendentalism came to be influenced by Friedrich Schleiermacher, often considered the father of modern liberal theology.

In keeping with the order in which I discovered the connection between the writings of Friedrich Schleiermacher and the philosophy of transcendentalism, I would like to first examine Emerson’s Nature. In the opening of his essay, Emerson asks, “why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?” (Emerson 1). Here, Emerson puts emphasis on an idea that is critical in the writings of Friedrich Schleiermacher, namely, that a religion that is built on a personal experience of the divine is more authentic than a religion that relies strictly on the teachings and traditions of other men. Emerson believes that instead of looking outside of oneself for answers to philosophical and religious matters, one should shift their focus inward in order to gain a better sense of reality. As I have learned throughout the semester, the sentiment that feeling and emotion are sometimes better guides than reason and logic is a common theme found throughout transcendentalism, but it also a theme found in most writings of the romantic era, a broader tradition in which Emerson found himself writing in. The romantic period followed the European enlightenment, and in a lot of ways, the writings can be seen as a response to notions established during the age of reason. Emerson, in particular, wishes to uphold a notion that emotion mixed with reason is worth trusting more than just reason alone—an idea that the enlightenment had drifted away from.

However, it was not only American thinkers who responded to issues raised by the enlightenment. Friedrich Schleiermacher, of German origin, sought to reestablish the integrity of religion following the enlightenment’s undermining of religious belief. In my philosophy of religion course this past semester I was given to read sections of Schleiermacher’s work, On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers (a title which directly references the enlightenment’s critics of religion). In his work, Schleiermacher seeks to constitute a clear definition of religion, and then to defend that definition against those who desire to do away with religion entirely. Schleiermacher starts by explaining where religion cannot be found, saying, “the spirit lets itself neither be bound in academies, nor be poured into eager skulls; it usually evaporates on the way from the first mouth to the first ear” (Schleiermacher 14). This notion is similar to that of Emerson’s, in that neither men believe that it is through the teachings of others that one will be most capable of encountering a higher reality. For Schleiermacher, this higher reality can be found “in neither thinking nor acting, but in intuition and feeling”, an idea that runs parallel with the romantic period’s notion of the importance of emotion (Schleiermacher 122). The two men’s reliance on intuition and feeling demonstrates some of their similarities. Taking it further, both men characterize God in a parallel manner. Schleiermacher claims that “religion is the sensibility and taste for the infinite”—the infinite being God (Schleiermacher 123). Likewise, Emerson writes of his relationship with God: “I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the universal being circulate through me. I am part or particle of God” (Emerson 13). Instead of portraying God as an anthropomorphized being, both men believe God to be something that exists throughout all of reality.  In both men’s philosophies, one experiences the divine through intuiting the “infinite”, or in Emerson’s case, the “universal”. After reading the two men’s writings in my respected classes, and recognizing their similarities, I questioned whether or not there was a more direct connection between the two authors.

With a little bit of research, I found some important links between the two men. In Tiffany K. Wayne’s, Encyclopedia of American Transcendentalism, Wayne explains how those in the transcendentalist circle were influenced by the theology of Schleiermacher. She first mentions Emerson’s brother, William Emerson, who spent time studying in Germany, and enthusiastically shared with Emerson the thoughts of Friedrich Schleiermacher. In addition to his brother, Wayne notes that Emerson’s friends, James Freeman Clarke and Frederic Henry Hedge, were also impressed with Schleiermacher’s writing and encouraged Emerson to study the theologian’s works (Wayne 252). Discussing Schleiermacher’s theology, Wayne writes, “the idea that religion, meaning a spiritual experience of God as well as a guide to truth and morality, resided within a person and not some outside sources, was the foundation of Emerson’s own transcendentalism as articulated in his earliest works such as nature” (Wayne 252). According to Wayne, it is clear that Emerson’s transcendentalism echoes the spiritual beliefs of Friedrich Schleiermacher. Still, it was not Emerson who was the most influenced by Schleiermacher within the transcendentalist circle. George Ripley, one of the founding members of the transcendental club, called Schleiermacher “the greatest thinker who ever undertook to fathom the philosophy of religion” (qtd. In Wayne 252). Furthermore, Wayne states that Ripley relied on heavily on Schleiermacher when arguing against Unitarian biblical hermeneutics, and also based his work, Discourses on the Philosophy of Religion, Addressed to Doubters Who Wish to Believe (a play on the title of Schleiermacher’s work), on Schleiermacher’s theology (Wayne 253).  It is clear the Schleiermacher’s work had a profound impact on the philosophy of transcendentalism, and though the transcendentalists would divert from the teachings of Schleiermacher by not focusing on the teachings of Christianity as much as Schleiermacher did, as historian Octavius Brooks Frothingham notes, if one observes both traditions “it will appear that Schleiermacher gave countenance to the spiritual aspect of transcendentalism, and co-operated with the general movement it represented” (Friedrich). Having enjoyed learning about both philosophies, I was even more delighted to discover how the two traditions were related.

Transcendentalism’s Influence on its Contemporaries

After learning how transcendentalism was influenced by the thought of Friedrich Schleiermacher, I thought it would be appropriate to research how transcendentalism influenced its contemporaries. Having studied this past semester that many of the Romantic writers were influenced by transcendentalism, I sought to dig deeper into how individuals were personally affected by the philosophy.

Walt Whitman:

          Walt Whitman is often considered America’s greatest poet. His free verse blends both romanticism and realism into a work that rises above both genres. A contemporary of the transcendentalists, Whitman’s poetry contains many themes that can be traced back to his reading of Emerson. In an account of how Emerson influenced Whitman, author John Townsend Trowbridge says of the poet: “He freely admitted that he could never have written his poems if he had not first ‘come to himself’ and that Emerson helped him to ‘find himself’ (qtd. in Whitman). It is no secret that Whitman felt indebted to Emerson for the impact he had on his poetry. The second edition of Whitman’s, Leaves of Grass, includes a letter from Whitman to Emerson, in which Whitman tells Emerson, “those shores you found; I say, you led the states there,--have led me there” (qtd in Whitman). Whitman’s letter, delivered after Emerson had sent a letter of praise to Whitman for the first edition of Leaves of Grass, showcases the respect Whitman had for Emerson, and from the collected gestures of both men it is apparent that they were fond of one another’s writings.

Emily Dickinson:

Whitman was not the only poet influenced by the philosophy of transcendentalism, however. While one may not classify Dickinson strictly as a transcendentalist, many of her poems contain themes also found in transcendentalism, leaving one with room to believe that she was influenced by the writings of the transcendentalists. Dickinson received a collection of Emerson’s first poems from her friend Benjamin Newton, a body of work which found itself reflected in some of Dickinson’s own writings. Her biographer, Alfred Habegger, notes that Dickinson was also influenced by the writings of Thoreau, and may have been referring to him in her poem, “Twas Fighting for His Life He Was—“(Transcendental). Habegger also makes mention of Dickinson being “simply and starkly concerned with being herself”, an attitude that Emerson promotes in his essay, Self-Reliance (Transcendental). 

Brook Farm:

While there is no doubt that there existed many more individuals who were influenced by the writings of transcendentalism, there also existed cultural phenomenon that one might argue came to life out of a response to transcendentalist ideals. During the romantic era, a belief in utopian communities inspired the emergence of communes in different parts of the country. Most notable of these communes was Brook Farm, started by transcendentalist George Ripley. Ripley, in a letter to Emerson, stated that his main objective in establishing the commune was to unite the intellectual and the working man in order to create a community that was wholesome—instead of competitive-- so that the community’s members could collectively reap the benefits of both physical labor and education (Ideas). Because the members of Brook farm believed physical health informed mental health, and vice versa, it was important to create a community that upheld both.

With one of the community goals being the betterment of the individual, Brook Farm embraced a unique economic system, in which the members of the community divided the labor among themselves equally so that no one member would have to bare too heavy of a load. Without having an excessive amount of work to perform, each member of the community had time to achieve an important goal of transcendentalist life, self-improvement. In addition to this, the members also put into practice a voluntary work system where each individual was able to choose when they would like to work, so long as they worked a certain amount of hours each day. This system promoted another transcendental ideal, namely, the freedom of the individual. Still, even with the many freedoms offered to persons of Brook Farm, the schedules of each individual resembled one another. The members would rise early in the morning, work eight to ten hours each day, depending on which season it was, and then spend the rest of their time participating in activities they would have considered pleasurable (Ideas). All this considered, as much as Brook Farm was an “ideal” community for the transcendentalists, it would eventually fall apart due to financial reasons, existing only as a memory of a community built upon the teachings of transcendentalism.

A Modern Transcendentalist: Terrence Malick

Though a formal tradition of transcendentalism, like Brook farm, no longer exists, remnants of the philosophy’s values can be located in the art and teachings of the modern world. Perhaps the best example of this lies within the films of legendary director, Terrence Malick. With Malick, a graduate of Harvard (Emerson’s alma mater), and a one-time philosophy professor at MIT, one can assume that he is well acquainted with the writings of transcendentalism.

Often considered a master of cinema, Malick is famous for being reclusive, going decades without making a single film after his first two were considered classics, perhaps in an Emersonian gesture of self-reliance. Malick’s portrayal of transcendental ideals goes beyond his personal life, however, in that his films are littered with notions of the glory of nature, and an awareness of the sublime in everyday life. Hydra magazine writer, Jose- Luis Moctezuma, calls Terrence Malick an auteur of a “21^st century Transcendentalism”, claiming that Malick’s critically acclaimed film, The Tree of Life, centers around Emerson’s, Nature (Moctezuma). Noting that Emerson had no dogma that he adhered to, Moctezuma states that it is nature that Emerson chose to worship, and likewise, it is nature that Terence Malick also puts on a pedestal (Moctezuma). All of the director’s films are known for their predominantly taking place outside, and their nature capturing cinematography. As much as each of his films are about the characters that are within them, they are also about the beauty of nature.

Of all the director’s films, it is The Tree of Life which most involves nature. In addition to the usual shots of trees and frontiers contained within all of his movies, The Tree of Life features a section which portrays a history of the natural universe; starting with the big bang, moving on through the formation of the earth, and even featuring a scene with a couple of dinosaurs. Malick’s inclusion of these events portrays his reverence for nature. Watching this section alone, one may feel as though the film is indifferent towards its audience, but when this section is juxtaposed with a personal story of a normal 1950s suburban family, one begins to feel as though nature, even on a cosmic scale, is somehow bound together with everyday life. Moctezuma argues that this juxtaposition is reminiscent of Emerson’s declaration that he is “part or particle of God” (qtd. In Moctezuma). After just one viewing of Malick’s film, it is clear that he holds nature in high regard, not only as a backdrop for his characters, but as a character itself. Like Emerson, and other transcendentalists, Malick seems to suggest that a wholesome life involves a reverence for nature’s beauty.

Moving past the worlds presented in the films, notions of transcendentalism are also found in the reality of Malick’s filmmaking process. Consistently collaborating with award winning cinematographer, Emanuel Lubezki, the two have become well known among film circles for having put into place a particular set of rules they use when shooting their films. Most notable of these rules is their sole reliance on natural light for their photography (Benjamin). This is unique because the majority of films embrace unnatural sources of lights; one would be hard pressed to discover another filmmaker who has regularly made it a priority to use only natural sources. There are a couple implications of this choice. First, it demonstrates Malick’s reverence for the natural over the unnatural, highlighting his transcendentalist values. Second, as Lubezki puts it himself, there is a certain “complexity” of natural light, with it one is able to capture better “colors and a different quality of light”, making it difficult “to go back to artificial light in the same movie” (qtd. in Benjamin). Refusing to settle on artificial lighting, Malick is able to capture a rare image of nature that one might say—as many do—transcends other images within the cinematic universe.  Malick took this rule even further in his second film, Days of Heaven, in which he shot many scenes during what he called the “magic hour” between sunset and nightfall. Days of Heaven cinematographer, Nestor Almendros, writes of the hour: “for those few minutes the light is magical because no one knows where it is coming from” (qtd. in Axmaker). When one considers how much more difficult it becomes to create a movie using only natural light, and furthermore, to create one during a single hour of the day, one gains a better appreciation of how Malick, as a transcendentalist, uses nature, as a tool, to glorify nature, as a transcendental reality. Both within his films, and through the making of his films, nature is personal and necessary, making Malick a modern day transcendentalist.

Conclusion

Coming into American Renaissance with Dr. White I was only vaguely familiar with the ideas of transcendentalism. My past studies of the movement had not gone past a surface level understanding, and the only transcendentalist I was remotely familiar with was Emerson. Through learning about the Romantic period and how it relates to transcendentalism in class, I was better able to understand transcendentalism’s influence on important persons of history and culture. With a newfound perspective of the philosophy, I became interested in in both its influences, and who it went on to influence—in completing the journal, I learned both.

In regards to transcendentalism’s influences, I was pleased to discover the writings of Friedrich Schleiermacher. When learning about him in my philosophy of religion course I sensed the two ideologies were connected, but was not convinced that they had any direct correlation. It interested me to discover that George Ripley held Schleiermacher in such high regard. After learning that, it became obvious that transcendentalism, at least to some extent, owed Schleiermacher for some of its teachings. If I were to do more research on this general topic, I would look for other influences of transcendentalism, particularly those of religion. In this case in particular, I came across Schleiermacher just by coincidence, and it happen to pan out that there was a link between him and the transcendentalists. With more research, I am sure I would find a connection between transcendentalism and many more religious ideologies.

After learning about transcendentalism’s influences, I also enjoyed learning about how it impacted its contemporaries. As I said, coming into the class I had really only read Emerson, and was therefore unfamiliar with transcendentalism’s wide reach. Out of all the artists we have learned about this past semester the two I have most enjoyed would have to be Emerson and Whitman, and so learning about their relationship was delightful. I figured the two men knew about one another, but I was unaware of their written communication. In addition to learning about Whitman, I also enjoyed learning about Brook farm. Having already been interested in communes, I was eager to look into Brook farm when I started this project. All I learned about the commune—their goals, schedule and lifestyle—was new to me, and gave me another way of viewing transcendentalist life.

What I was most familiar with going into this journal was the cinema of Terrence Malick. Much of the knowledge I covered regarding the filmmaker I already knew. What I did not know, however, was how the forementioned knowledge was connected to the philosophy of transcendentalism, simply because I had never considered their relation. After taking the class, and seeing some of the connections between the readings and Malick’s films, I began to wonder if they were associated in any way. Though I did not discover a direct link between Malick and a specific individual of the transcendentalist movement, I found a countless number of critics who deemed Malick a modern transcendentalist, and once reading what they had to say about the subject it was apparent to me that many of the themes important to the transcendentalists are found throughout all of the films of Terrence Malick, giving credit to what the critics had to say.

What I learned from the journal in a more broad sense, outside of the tradition of transcendentalism, is how different literary and philosophical traditions connect to one another throughout history. The content of this journal spans across a few hundred of years, and includes both theology, literature and cinema, all having influenced one another. Going forward, when learning about new subjects I will also look into how said subjects are connected to traditions that existed before and after the material that I am studying. Understanding how different fields of knowledge relate to one another enables one to have a more thorough understanding of the material they are studying. For this reason, the journal was enjoyable to produce, and in walking away, I am more enlightened in regards to transcendentalism.

Works Cited

Axmaker, Sean. "Days of Heaven." Turner Classic Movies. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/276994|0/Days-of-Heaven.html>.

Benjamin. "The American Society of Cinematographers." The ASC. Web. 3 May 2015. <https://www.theasc.com/ac_magazine/August2011/TheTreeofLife/page1.php>.

"Friedrich Ernst Daniel Schleiermacher, 1768 - 1834." Friedrich Ernst Daniel Schleiermacher. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://www.alcott.net/alcott/home/champions/Schleiermacher.html>.

"Ideas--Brook Farm History." Ideas--Brook Farm History. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu/ideas/brhistory.html>.

Moctezuma, Jose. "American Transcendentalism and ‘The Tree of Life’." Hydra Magazine. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://www.hydramag.com/2011/06/19/american-transcendentalism-the-tree-life/>.

"Transcendental Legacy--Emily Dickinson." Transcendental Legacy--Emily Dickinson. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu/roots/legacy/dickinson/index.html>.

The Tree of Life. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation :, 2011. Film.

Wayne, Tiffany K. Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, 2006. 252-253. Print.

"Whitman as Transcendentalist." Whitman as Transcendentalist. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu/roots/legacy/whitman/>.

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