“It avails not, time nor place — distance avails not”
Walt Whitman, a self-proclaimed poet of the body and the soul, wrote in a vein of transcendentalist beliefs, nurturing a concept of spiritual and physical connectivity and adhesiveness among all people. Whitman writes on the continuity of the human experience and how that continuity unites us all. For my final project, I plan on considering how Walt’s ideas of human connection relate in the modern day world where we are actually all virtually connected.
We’ve seen many instances of crisis in Whitman’s poems and (even while proclaiming a unified world) he often seems to balance precariously between feelings of isolation and unity, connectivity and detachment. This topic is especially interesting to me because we are currently living in a paradox of being endlessly connected by technology and social media and yet, those same technologies create barriers between individuals.
My research for this project will begin with close readings of Whitman’s poetry and prose that specifically deal with human connection -from Leaves of Grass to Calamus and Children of Adam- and will continue in an exploration of technology’s effect on human connection and experience. I have not fully determined what form this project will take — as of right now I am leaning towards a traditional essay format, but am also considering a blog or video essay to explore Whitman’s idea of a worldwide connectedness in the context of modern day technology.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/8glc54/broad-city-the-worldwide-bloodstream
I think the idea of exploring what resonance Whitmanian ideals of connection (interpersonal, technological, economic) would be very interesting. This will require sort of transposing Whitman’s philosophy about these things onto contemporary debates. Perhaps Whitman will infuse our virtual worlds with the proper sensibility to guide our interactions in this increasingly connected world. For the video you posted, please link directly to it rather than insert the URL (use the link button on the toolbar). Even better, you can go to the video and check out the share features and embed the video by using the switching to the view where you only see the code (the tab on the top right of the composition box).
Looking forward to seeing this project unfold!