In 2013, James Franco wrote “Why Walt Whitman Was the Original Kanye West,” an article that draws comparisons between two of the most celebrated creative producers in American history. Franco makes an interesting case for the Whitmanian presence in West, pointing mostly to the self-promoting tendencies each has demonstrated throughout their careers. However, we find that the conversation does not stop with Franco’s article; the published materials surrounding their lives and artworks further call for this connection to come to fruition. What happens when we join the artist we can’t seem to catch with the artist we currently can’t avoid? Like Whitman’s readers, does Kanye’s career follow the poet down his paths untrodden?
When we talk about icons, we are talking about the collective idea of an individual vs. the reality of the individual, and how one’s pictorial representation exists regardless of their intended representation. Of course, icons are not alien characters to us “real” people; we all exist on a spectrum that determines how closely our external representations emulate our real selves. Although both Whitman and Kanye relished the celebrity spotlight, their respective art forms and available mediums for representation have placed them on separate ends of this spectrum. Thus, the goal of my project will be to examine Walt Whitman and Kanye West as cultural extremes in American iconization, showing how these artists hold the spectrum like the end-posts of a clothes line.
My project will enter the conversation surrounding the purposive deliveries of Whitman’s and Kanye’s work. I would particularly like to engage and extend Franco’s argument that Whitman and Kanye shared artistic and celebrity aspirations, showing how these aspirations have contributed to their external representations. This extension will further engage materials that surround Whitman and Kanye’s work, including Jan Smut’s and Ivan Marki’s writing on the evolution of Whitman’s personality as it’s reflected in his work, as well as contemporary reviews and videos which demonstrate the artist’s ability to influence readership. Other aspects of their dynamic will be explored, as well.
My projected will be completed through a custom Wix blog site. The general layout and design of the site has already taken form, but it will be fully prepared for publishing by the project’s due date (4/17). I have seven blog posts (approx. 500 words each) planned, but their overall relationship as a singular textual body will be decided by 4/11, when we will be presenting our research conversation. My annotated bibliography will then be completed by 4/13, prior to my one-on-one meeting with Dr. Vander Zee.
Current sources being examined:
Primary: Poems from Whitman Textbook, Whitman’s recording, Kanye’s “I Am A God” and accompanying explanation, Whitman photographs, Kanye’s relationship with paparazzi (video TBD), selected Kanye songs (TBD), Kanye Twitter Feed
Secondary:
Why Walt Whitman Was the Original Kanye West (Franco)
The Life of Pablo Review (Greene)
Leaves of Grass Review (Beach)
Beautiful Dark Twisted Pedagogy: Kanye West and the Lessons of Participatory Culture (Garcia)
Walt Whitman and the Culture of American Celebrity by David Haven Blake (book)
Walt Whitman: A Study in the Evolution of Personality by Jan Smuts (book)
The Photographs of Walt Whitman (Folsom)
Spermatoid Design in Walt Whitman’s 1860 Leaves of Grass (Folsom)
The Whitman Recording (Folsom)
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