It is undeniable that Whitman is one of, if not the most, influential poets in American literary history, but even though it is important for future generations to continue re-reading his work, we have to be honest with ourselves about some of his more problematic poetic behaviors. ‘Song of Myself’ is one of his most famous poems, and often the one that ends up being taught in classrooms. In ‘Song of Myself’, there are several instances in which Whitman takes the traumas of other people upon himself, rather blatantly in some cases. As he says himself in the poem, “Agonies are one of my changes of garments, / I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become / the wounded person,”. At this point, it’s easy to say Whitman’s overly sympathetic and leave it at that, but this tendency of his is actually extremely problematic for young readers and writers to observe. Whitman, a white man, says earlier in the poem “I am the hounded slave”, going on to describe an escape of some sort, potentially from slave-hunters looking for runaway slaves, an experience that traumatized an overwhelming number of people in Whitman’s day and still has left noticeable repercussions in our modern-day society. Seeing this behavior praised by teachers and professors could easily give developing writers that taking another person’s experience, especially that of marginalized people who already struggle to get their voices heard, is okay, when it is most definitely not. To have white authors taking and selling the stories of people of color, cisgender, heterosexual authors taking and selling the stories of LGBTQ+ people, or any other author who comes from a point of privilege taking and selling the stories of a marginalized group is a quick way to further the erasure of the underrepresented voices in our society. Whitman himself most likely thought he was approaching the issue from a place of empathy and sensitivity, and it’s also true that most authors of the time wouldn’t dare bring up the topics he addressed in a lot of his poems, differing sexualities and the nature of sex, for example. However, it’s possible to acknowledge that while Whitman was fairly radical and progressive for his time while still emphasizing that his tendency to borrow trauma that he never experienced is problematic at best, and that it’s a behavior we shouldn’t praise or aim to replicate. Teaching Whitman is necessary, even unavoidable, but it’s time we focus on teaching all the sides of Whitman; specifically, the good and the bad sides of his poetry.
Thanks for the post, and I think your points about Whitman’s leaky identity and the ease with which he takes on the plights of others as his own is tricky, which is precisely what we discussed in class. The line in particular about the change of garments is especially problematic given how the trope of clothing is deployed throughout as a deceptive gloss on true identity. I’d love to see you more deeply contextualize some of these moments within the broader movement of the poem. Are there times when his attention to others is authentic and sincere? Or are all such moves problematic? Also, this has been a lively conversation of late from authors and critics alike, and the op-ed we read from Karen Karbiener linked to a lot of those pieces. How would you combat her arguments about the enduring, if complex, way in which Whitman connects himself with others?
You make great points, but I’d love to see you test those against some other ideas even as you align yourself with a certain part of the conversation.
I agree with you on the problematic nature of Whitman’s writings. He does seem to cast a broad overview of the trials and tribulations of underrepresented people and seems to act like he is the only person who is responsible (or capable) of putting these issues to the page. However, another way to view this nature of representation through Whitman’s writing is by examining the importance of it at the time. Like you said in your post, Whitman brings up topics “that most authors of the time wouldn’t dare bring up”. Another way to view Whitman’s writing is as a stepping stone for other writers. By writing about issues that not many writers discussed at the time, Whitman was able to open the discussion of the topics in a sympathetic and sincere way and allowed for underrepresented people to tell their own stories.