Consciousness and culture : Emerson and Thoreau reviewed / Joel Porte.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Porte, Joel.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882--Criticism and interpretation.

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862--Criticism and interpretation.

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.

National characteristics, American, in literature.

Consciousness in literature.

Culture in literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

New England--Intellectual life--19th century.

New England.

Intellectual life.

Physical Description:

xix, 234 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2004]

Summary:

Emerson and Thoreau are the most celebrated odd couple of nineteenth-century American literature. Appearing to play the roles of benign mentor and eager disciple, they can also be seen as bitter rivals: America' s foremost literary statesman, protective of his reputation, and an ambitious and sometimes refractory proté gé . The truth, Joel Porte maintains, is that Emerson and Thoreau were complementary literary geniuses, mutually inspiring and inspired. In this book of essays, Porte focuses on Emerson and Thoreau as "writers. "He traces their individual achievements and their points of intersection, arguing that both men, starting from a shared belief in the importance of " self-culture, " produced a body of writing that helped move a decidedly provincial New England readership into the broader arena of international culture. It is a book that will appeal to all readers interested in the writings of Emerson and Thoreau.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-225) and index.

ISBN:

0300104464

OCLC:

54446424