Walt Whitman: English

Author: (USA) Alan Greenspan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-12-01
Features: This book is part of the "Cambridge Literary Guides" series. As an essay collection commemorating the 100th anniversary of Whitman's death, it focuses on the new research by contemporary Western literary critics on the life and works of this American. The authors are professors and scholars from various countries in the West, who interpret this highly influential yet controversial poet and his works from a modern perspective. The topics explored include the American Civil War, feminism, modernism, photography, dance, and the changes in the poet's late poetic style. Some discuss the poet's creative activities during the American Civil War, particularly the influence of his brother's service in the war on his writing and emotions. Others revisit the treatment of women in Leaves of Grass and analyze the work from a feminist perspective. Some examine the impact of mid-19th-century American social and political movements on the poet. Others trace the intellectual framework of Whitman's close relationship with non-print media, analyzing his lifelong passion for photography and his experiments with new techniques in book design. Some review the poet's influence on modern people, while others explore the relationship between Whitman and modern dance. Finally, some discuss the poet's influence on Latin American literature in the 1950s.