Summary
Chai, Leon. The Romantic Foundations
of the American Renaissance. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 1987.
PS 217 .R6 c43 1987.O
Summary by Joseph Sisk
Chai argues in his book that American
renaissance derives and follows closely
to the Romantic movement. He differs
from the view of many that believed
it to have been a product of the
Puritan mode of thought. He examines
the writings of Poe, Hawthorne, Emerson,
and Melville. He dicusses the shift
from the allegory to the symbolic.
He sees the change from association
by fictional beliefs to that of association
by a profound link with nature in
the works of these great authors
and American literature as a whole
as being a result of romantic notions.
He also discusses briefly the works
of Fuller, Alcott, Shelley, Muller,
and Stendhal and how they relate
to Romanticism and to each other.
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Jesse D. Hurlbut--Last Updated November 10, 1993