LITR 4232: American Renaissance

UHCL, spring 2002

Student Research Proposal

Terri St. John 

I’m very interested in Native American spirituality and am intrigued with its similarities to transcendentalism. I propose to write a research essay comparing the two in order to determine if transcendental philosophy may have actually originated with the Indians. My sources will include Emerson, Thoreau, Black Elk and various Native American writings I'm in the process of accumulating.

Do you know of any other authors (or specific works) that might aid my research? The Oxford Companion to Religion’s (and Philosophy) definition of transcendentalism refers to several philosophers, should I include any of these as sources? I don’t want to disregard any pertinent information, but I don’t want to write an epic either!

Thanks,

Terri

Dear Terri,

I like your subject and remember wondering about it myself, but like you I'm not sure how to hold it down.

My main warning on the subject--without meaning to warn you away from the subject--is that the subject may be more treacherous than it looks. For instance, sometimes when we think that a description of American Indian thought sounds like Transcendentalism or Romanticism, it may be for a couple of reasons having little to do with Native American thought. First, we may be reading a Romantic writer's projections on Amerind thought. Second, even if an Amerind sounds honestly Romantic or Transcendental, s/he may have learned it from the Europeans! The other major danger is that, if you can't find a definite historical footing, you're tempted to do one of those grand-scale formal comparisons in the spirit of Jung or Joseph Campbell, in which "everything is everything."

If you want a good example of how American Indian thought and Romantic thought can get entangled with each other, the most famous example is Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt. I can give you some materials on this.

In terms of actual historical connections between Transcendentalism and American Indians, Thoreau's probably your best bet. He kept a large journal on Indians and visited them when he could--I think he made a trip into the Maine woods not long before he died, but I've never done this research myself. Anyway, you could do an MLA search of Thoreau and Indians--I bet there's some material out there.

Anyway, feel free to talk some more. It's a good subject but increasingly one where you want your bearings.