First Advisor
Thomas Fisher
Date of Award
5-22-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English and University Honors
Department
English
Language
English
Subjects
Walt Whitman (1819-1892). Leaves of grass -- Walt Whitman (1819-1892) -- Criticism and interpretation, Sympathy in literature
DOI
10.15760/honors.868
Abstract
Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass has long been celebrated as a great work of American democracy, a work of democratic poetics. Throughout the text, Whitman goes to great lengths to sympathize with as many different sects of American society as possible. But where do his sympathies deserve scrutiny? By analyzing Whitman's relationship to the black, enslaved subject throughout the text, it becomes clear that there are limits to sympathy, and sympathetic intentions can inadvertently inflict violence upon subjugated groups. In turn, it becomes evident that Whitman’s democratic project is much more flawed and complicated than the way it is often presented in popular culture.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33057
Recommended Citation
Kennelley, Aidan, "The Pursuit of Democracy: the Racial Subject and Sympathy’s Limits in Leaves of Grass" (2020). University Honors Theses. Paper 848.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.868