“A Latent Satire” for Romantic Utopianism: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Blithedale Romance
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Emphasizing humanitarianism and philanthropy, the reform movements in nineteenth-century America flourished with the intellectual support of Transcendentalism, which sought spiritual uplift through self-reliance. Both the reform movements and Transcendentalism are grounded on America's national ideology, utopianism. However, Nathaniel Hawthorne had a sceptical view on such idealistic utopianism and urged reformers' self-examination of their own conscience and morality rather than social reforms. The Blithedale Romance is Hawthorne's satire on utopian reforms and reformers. Although it is an undeniable fact that the text is based on his short experience at Brook Farm, a utopian community built on Transcendental beliefs, Hawthorne asks the reader not to regard the work as a realistic report of his experience at the institution, arguing The Blithedale Romance is not a realism novel but a Romance midway between the real and the fictitious. Nevertheless, by exploring the reformer characters' moral conscience and dark psychology in his Romance, Hawthorne latently satirizes his contemporary reformers and their romantic utopianism. In order to avoid showing his direct criticism on reformers and their activities, in addition to his emphasis on the genre of his work as Romance, he also diverts the reader's concern to romantic relationships between the characters through his unreliable narrator. With his problematic narrative and ambiguous conscience, the narrator, indeed, serves as a literary device that makes The Blithedale Romance a Romance text and Hawthorne's satire latent.
Abstract
Emphasizing humanitarianism and philanthropy, the reform movements in nineteenth-century America flourished with the intellectual support of Transcendentalism, which sought spiritual uplift through self-reliance. Both the reform movements and Transcendentalism are grounded on America's national ideology, utopianism. However, Nathaniel Hawthorne had a sceptical view on such idealistic utopianism and urged reformers' self-examination of their own conscience and morality rather than social reforms. The Blithedale Romance is Hawthorne's satire on utopian reforms and reformers. Although it is an undeniable fact that the text is based on his short experience at Brook Farm, a utopian community built on Transcendental beliefs, Hawthorne asks the reader not to regard the work as a realistic report of his experience at the institution, arguing The Blithedale Romance is not a realism novel but a Romance midway between the real and the fictitious. Nevertheless, by exploring the reformer characters' moral conscience and dark psychology in his Romance, Hawthorne latently satirizes his contemporary reformers and their romantic utopianism. In order to avoid showing his direct criticism on reformers and their activities, in addition to his emphasis on the genre of his work as Romance, he also diverts the reader's concern to romantic relationships between the characters through his unreliable narrator. With his problematic narrative and ambiguous conscience, the narrator, indeed, serves as a literary device that makes The Blithedale Romance a Romance text and Hawthorne's satire latent.
참고문헌 (18)
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