In the literary realm, Transcendentalism, especially in New England, is most renowned for its contribution to nonfiction literature, though poetry and occasional fictional pieces were produced from the authors associated with the movement. The men and women of this first truly American movement may be, however, more significant for the historical purpose they served by introducing the American Renaissance than by any literary or philosophical achievement (Buell 2). From this perspective, Transcendentalism can be viewed as the zeitgeist, or spirit of the age, embodying a variety of ideas and beliefs on human nature. Although many works categorized as Transcendentalist involve common themes, as a distinct group they shared no common belief system or philosophical outlook. Critics vary widely on how even to define the movement.
A general meaning, however, has been commonly attributed to this movement. New England Transcendentalism has been viewed as a rebellion against American Unitarianism, which professed the Lockean notion that human knowledge comes directly from the senses. This faith then believed that God must be conceived of through rational reflection of His creation and scriptures, not through any direct intuition. Many radicals in the Unitarian church of the 1820s and 1830s felt this mediation broke off their direct link to God. So, many, including Coleridge, argued that not only did humans have the capacity to understand in an empirical manner, but they were also capable of a higher mental “Reason” which granted him intuitive perception into spiritual truths. This concept of a transcending reason was the elusive core of the movement. Within this framework, however, differences of opinion did rest; for example whether this faculty was the voice of God, whether it was simply an internal light specific to this species, or even whether it was actually God shining from within humans (Buell 4-5).
Aside from a strong sense of the dignity of human life and knowledge prominent, especially prominent in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, pioneer and hero of this movement, and his friend Henry David Thoreau, was a yearning to destroy the many institutions seen as impediments to this knowledge. One such institution was the established church. These men were not stating that a divine presence did not exist, but simply that when the institution becomes more important than its study or worship, it has lost its necessity, becoming cumbersome to human development. Emerson calls this tearing down the “sepultures of the fathers,” and calls for all men to be nonconformists in every aspect, for once a belief structure is solidified, it ferments and goes bad (Bode 141). Much like the Eastern ideals of Zen Buddhism, a new pathway must be forged between the individual and himself, and from that point to the transcending sense of nature through immediate perception, not any sort of process.
All these ideas can be blended into a general belief that through man’s capacity to higher reason, he has a more direct link to God, without the hampering medium of some organized religion which only places unnecessary restrictions upon and obstacles between the intrinsic bond between the divine and creatures with intuition.
However, as stated, Transcendentalists themselves had difficulties defining the actual movement. Emerson wrote in his 1843 essay “The Transcendentalist” that the Transcendentalist “believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy,” but that “there is no such thing as a Transcendental party” (Mott 227). Different attitudes existed also toward his belief that realization of our intuitions become impossible because of this world of organic growth and mutabilibty. Emerson and many others were filled with the conflicting emotions of hope and anxiety over this, while other names associated with the movement, like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville, all were attracted by Emerson’s aspirations but were fearful of its implications on the individual and upon man’s relations with that which is external (Mott 227).
Even the beginning and ending of this epoch in American literature and thought cannot fully be figured. Most scholars consider 1836 as its beginnings, but its official end is widely disagreed over. One well-supported idea is that the Civil War truly ended the reforms of the 1830s and 1840s, and therefore an end to Transcendentalism. As the spirit of the age changed, so did even Emerson, who remained actively writing in the 1850s and 1860s but who grew less associated with any type of movement (Mott 228).
The Transcendental movement was necessary for a new American literature and philosophy to be developed, especially at such a time when the country was desperately searching for its own voice. However, it was truly full of inconsistencies and contradictions. This movement consisted of members with varied beliefs, many of whom likely didn’t consider themselves Transcendentalists since the boundaries were so blurred. This group of individuals who had their own beliefs, many of whom were not in contact with each other at all, still brought an American Renaissance to the foreground, questioning the many establishments of conservative thought and adding a different and influential voice to American literature.
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Works Cited
Bode, Carl. 1946. The Portable Emerson. NY, NY: Penguin Books.
Buell, Lawrence. 1973. Literary Transcendentalism: Style and Vision in the American Renaissance. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Mott, Wesley T. 1996. Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
“New England Transcendentalism.” (Nov. 1998). Leslie Perrin Wilson, M.S., M.A. The Concord Magazine. 12 April 2002. http://concordma.com/magazine/nov98/trans.html
