문화적 독립을 향한 탈 식민 담론 —19세기 미국작가 연구

Abstract

Post-Colonial Discourses toward Cultural Independence: A Study on the 19th Century American Writers Hong-Pil Lee (Chonnam National Univ.) In the 19th century America, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman were the pioneers of cultural independence of America from Europe. It was Emerson that started to discuss the necessity of cultural independence, critical acceptance of European culture, and construction of the American culture. In specific perspective, Whitman continued to manifest cultural independence of America embarked by Emerson. This essay examines Emersonian prose writings and Whitman's Leaves of Grass in terms of their efforts to create cultural independence. Reading their works, however, I will not employ the post-colonial discourses which have been developed since the late 20th century, because they do not contribute to investigating their works composed free from racial and ethnical sentiments. A number of Emersonian essays are directed toward criticism of British society: newspaper, university, aristocracy, parliament, and so on. By doing so, he seeks to make differences between America and England. Out of envy, nevertheless, he looks at the hegemony over the world which England enjoyed at the time. Whitman's Leaves of Grass is full of admiration of America. In his eyes, whatever exists in America looks idealistic and wonderful because they are the very expression of democratic ideas that they invented by themselves; thus, he admires not only American democracy, but also its advocate and defender, President Lincoln. His primary aim of Leaves of Grass consists in creating an American version of epic which is quite different from the traditional style of western epic.