American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman

by F.O. Matthiessen

This text has taken its place as the definitive treatment of the most distinguished age of American literature. Centering the discussion around five literary giants of the mid-nineteenth century-Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman. Matthiessen elucidates their conceptions of the nature and function of literature, and the extent to which these were realized in their writings.

Genres: Literary Criticism, Criticism, Nonfiction, History, 20th Century, The United States Of America, Literature

678 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

Reviews

[v · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've rummaged around any in "further reading" lists on 19th-century American literature, American Renaissance's title will be familiar. In it, F.O. Matthiessen attempts to work out why the brief period of 1850-1855 in New England produced arguably America's greatest ever literary works. He does this principally through literary analysis of major works by Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman, and the results are fairly persuasive and usually rich and engaging.

In summary, Matthiessen sees the "renaissance" as the consummation of Romantic literary tenets on organic unity of composition, the union of deep experience and intellect, and meditation over man's place in society and nature, all within the unique social and religious landscape of a rapidly changing America (and with significant influence from Shakespeare and Thomas Browne). From that perspective, he finds Emerson's essays (and particularly his poetry) lacking in their near exclusive reliance on grand intellectual concepts; Thoreau's sturdier fixation on sensory impressions of nature helped him to produce the deceptively well-crafted Walden, though not much better poetry; Hawthorne and Melville, both leaning into a tragic vision of humanity in their fiction, wrote at least one exceptional novel each, though Hawthorne's reliance on allegory create some thinness in his characters while Melville's penetrating sense of character, as with Ahab and Pierre, threatened to sink his books at times; and Whitman, the "half-educated journalist," crafted an utterly unique poem or two alongside reams of grandstanding.

Not restricting his critical scope to the 19th-century, Matthiessen draws comparisons to the ideas and works of James, Lawrence, Joyce, and especially Eliot to articulate what is great and what pales in the works he analyzes, and this gives the study greater range; and, not abiding by any critical school other than that which searches for truth in literature, Matthiessen's contribution to American literary criticism is lasting and durable in its own right. Judicious, expressive, disciplined, and eclectic, it holds one's attention throughout, and his research into archives of Melville's marginalia and underlining in his books is especially rewarding.

By covering five key authors, Matthiessen spreads his argument and analysis a bit too thin on any given author or literary work, and this is particularly troubling with the sections on the two authors Matthiessen admires the least: Emerson and especially Whitman. He also overlooks some important pieces -- "Bartleby, the Scrivener" gets no attention whatsoever. One criticism of the book that you will find just about anywhere you choose to look says that Matthiessen omits the works of women or African Americans. Now, even though Matthiessen has impeccable progressive credentials, he explains in his preface that he concerns himself with the best books by the best authors so as to "evaluate them in accordance with the enduring requirements for great art." If that means anything to you then you simply must recognize, however inconveniently, that many authors do not qualify.

[Craig Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was first assigned this classic of American literary studies when I was a graduate student in the 1970s. I remembered it as daunting, and to some extent that's true. Matthiessen, one of the scholars who created the great tradition of old school American criticism, had an encyclopedic knowledge of the literary canon that took shape in the post-World War II era. He draws connections with the classical, Biblical, Shakespearean (etc.) traditions with an effortless and convincing clarity. And he's a spectacularly good reader, placing textual passages in illuminating contexts and drawing out their implications. I concentrated on the sections on Melville, which remain an excellent place to start if you're interesting in fully appreciating Moby-Dick. But he's equally good on Hawthorne. This is definitely written in a mode that's fallen out of academic grace. Matthiessen (who also wrote one of the best book son T.S. Eliot) concentrates on major writers and "universal themes." There are other ways to approach texts--David Reynolds' Beneath the American Renaissance complements Matthiessen by placing the period in its popular cultural contexts, including much more material on gender and race. What's impressive is how little of Matthiessen conflicts with readings that take the broader context into account.

[Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the definitive works of American literary criticism. If you are doing work with Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Hawthorne, or Melville, you really can't overlook Matthiessen. I docked him a star (not that he'll care--he's dead), however, because of the utter lack of representation in this book and the way this omission impacted the literary canon for decades. If you encountered a lot of dead white men in your U.S. lit classes, this guy is in large part to blame. It would have been much better if it was one of a multi-part series on the great American writers (hello, Harriet Beecher Stowe? Margaret Fuller? Frederick Douglas?), or if it simply stated its focus was on dead white men who were but a PART of this American Renaissance--not the whole of it.

Nonetheless, it's a text American lit students need to know because the points he brings up about these 5 major writers are flat out brilliant stuff.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're into American Literature, this study is foundational, necessary.

[James Bechtel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it states that I read this book on Kindle, I did not. My copy is a very good secondhand edition from 1941 (second printing). It's the cover that best represents this edition. Except mine is in maroon not blue. Very good as a benchmark for other books on American literary history and criticism.

[David C Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doing some tv programming on Whitman for the Smithsonian Channel on Monday. Reviewing the cultural background

[John Sundman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride. Four stars: I really liked it. Will have to write a proper review some day.

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for an "American Renaissance" class I was taking for school. It was interesting to read about the time period and the American authors that really forged the way for literature and poetry in America. However, I would say it wasn't a particularly exciting book to read.