휘트먼의 『풀잎』에 나타난 구원자로서의 그리스도 이미지

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to study the image of Christ as redeemer in Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and examine his peculiar humanistic poetic art in which the themes of Christianity like love, sacrifice, and salvation are extended and given concrete images. In fact, Whitman's Leaves of Grass is deeply influenced by the Bible. However, Whitman's religious thoughts are not purely Christian, but are mixed with his liberal and transcendental ideas influenced by New England transcendentalism. So, he objects to Puritan orthodoxy and substitutes it with his own humanist view. Whitman shows his features as a Christian humanist by pervasively using the image of Christ as redeemer. Whitman throws Christ-like savior imagery on himself to reveal his poetic mission to establish the goal of human salvation and completion. He uses the redemption imagery to show his religious concepts of salvation from man’s sinful nature. Symbolizing his poetry as a new gospel to construct a new America, he himself insists that Christian thoughts will be his principal poetic theme. He translates Christian ideals into political ones by portraying the image of Paradise. He designs and visualizes his Christian thoughts using exquisite poetic language and imagery to proclaim that Christian spirits can recover mankind and lead individuals and society to a new “Paradise.”