Leaves of Grass, Whitman’s magnum opus, went through a number of significant changes over his lifetime. Adding to and revising the original 1855 edition until his death in 1892 when the “Deathbed Edition” was published, Whitman created a work of art that was (and is still) defined by its fundamentally kinetic, dialogic, and collectively engaging nature. Variously structured around the flux and tension of political, cultural, social, and personal change and development, the volumes indeed “contains multitudes” in their seemingly disjunct but ultimately unified form, and in this way serve as a structuring principle both for Whitman’s poetic career and his poetic voice.
I want to look more deeply into the evolution of Leaves of Grass in its historical context as well as in the biographical context of Whitman himself. I plan to chart specific additions and revisions to certain poems as well as to the work as a whole and analyze these in the context of the vast political, social, cultural, and personal authorial change that took place during the 33 year span of its reworking in order to more fully understand the work as something that exists at once within its historical moment and across the “time and distance” of its publication.
With respect to form, I plan to make a website through wordpress that will include an introductory page, a biographical timeline; a list of major cultural events; an in-depth explanation of the changing political system, parties, and relevant debates; a chart of significant changes and revisions to the work; excerpts from the different editions with commentary; and an annotated compilation of significant critical essays on the work from 1855 until the present. With the website I hope to present a comprehensive image of Leaves of Grass that will help not only to contextualize the work in all its iterations but also to engage with the work as an inherently ever-evolving piece of literature.
This sounds like an interesting set-up for your final project. I definitely like the idea of a website, and your format for said website sounds thorough in nature. Whitman definitely evolves on a number of levels throughout his literary career, and an in-depth analysis of this would prove a fruitful endeavor. I do wonder if this might be a bit broad; perhaps you could analyze alterations on a particular strain? For an example, you could hone in on his evolution as a political figure and as a champion of democracy, and what this means throughout various stages of his life. I like the notion of charting poem revisions themselves; this will certainly provide a strong basis for analysis, as it will permit you to examine changes on a contextual basis, which a web-page will then illuminate to your viewers. It sounds like you have an expansive project in the works, in addition to a plan for your website itself. I think that if you hone in on a particular aspect of Whitman’s career, in order to track changes over time, you will have an extremely dynamic project! On that note, as Whitman’s work proves “ever-evolving,” people continue to examine his work in light of said time period and in today’s culture as well. Will you examine the manner in which his message extends as far as modern culture? Do you think that his message will continue to change alongside society, and if so, how do you think this might occur?
We talking in our conference about ways to constrain this project a bit in light of the thorough work that has been done tracking Whitman’s work through various publications. The Whitman Archive, which include all additions, many manuscripts, and more will certainly be of use for this project. Good luck as things come together!