Intro: So much of Walt Whitman’s identity is this wise, old almost prophetic poet that ‘contains multitudes’. He wrote prolifically and widely, covering all subjects, loving and sympathizing with minorities and the marginalized. He spoke to future generations, wishing to engage in conversations with them and imagining that his own experiences would be shared with them and their with him. As a result his voice has been cherished and carried for generations, he has been credited America’s poet and speaks for vast numbers of people, his voice has been used for movements surrounding feminism, social justice, sexual freedom, the environment and more. I have been curious as to whether this is an authentic adoption of his voice or if he works as an advocate because people frequently pull single verses or poems instead of looking at his works as a whole. I also wanted to know if he could genuinely engage in conversations about modern social issues and remain relevant. Would his time period and setting limit what he could speak to or his he genuinely without boundaries? I decided to tweet for a week using lines from Whitman’s poetry and prose in response to tweets about current news and social issues. I decided this would work because ‘Tweets of Grass’ has already proven his work fits perfectly into 140 characters or less and through tracking hashtags I create or the hashtags of popular movements I can see how people respond to his words. I would like to see how much momentum I can get behind this through avid tweeting for just a week and if people will genuinely engage with what he has to say or leave it at retweet.
Project Goal:The hope is that I will be able to begin a dialogue with other people in which I have back-and-forth exchanges that will prove that his work is ‘limitless’ and ‘for all ages’. Does he really ‘contain multitudes?’ and can his collective work, not just a single, line be applied to these conversations? His fluidity is such a part of his persona and I want to discover whether that is authentic or forced.
Account of the Conversation: There is already a vast number of communities on the internet and social media that meet to discuss literature and there is an equal number of new outlets and groups for people to discuss social issues. From what I have seen so far, there is less of an open discourse between the two. Yes literature groups discuss social issues and and how literature relates to what is going on in the world now, especially if what they’re reading wasn’t published in the last 10 years. But I don’t believe this goes the other way. I don’t know if social movements look to literature save for a catchy quote to use for a t-shirt or tweet. Whitman especially has been pared down to a few good lines. I want to see if it is just the nature of twitter that his voice is limited in this way or if he simply can’t be engaged with fully because of the distance between ‘then and now’. I too will be subjecting Whitman to single lines and quotes but I hope that through consistent and to the point tweeting I can make his work easy enough to engage with. The hardest part of joining this conversation will be responding not with what I think he would say but actually finding exact lines to fit the context of the conversation. And then of course hoping that someone responds.
Timeline:
Proposal- 4/6
Tweeting Whitman – Mon 4/11-Fri 4/15 (begin writing up results as they come)
Lit. Review – 4/11 ‘how literature is used to engage in modern discourse’ On Whitman making himself accessible to future generations and conversations (a self-fulfilling prophecy if you will)
Annotated Bibliography – 4/13
Paper Outline – 4/14 (create outline of your findings from the week of tweeting, should already have idea of history of use of old literature in modern discourse and outline of how Whitman’s voice has been lent to modern conversations and movements)
Rough Draft Finished – 3/16
Edit/Complete/Submit – 3/17
Bibliography:
Lopez, R. O. P. The Colorful Conservative : American Conversations With The Ancients From Wheatley To Whitman. n.p.: Lanham, MD : Univ Press of America , c2011., 2011. Library Catalog. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Mack, Stephen John. The Pragmatic Whitman. [Electronic Resource] : Reimagining American Democracy. n.p.: Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, c2002., 2002. Library Catalog. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Robbins, Timothy. “Emma Goldman Reading Walt Whitman: Aesthetics, Agitation, And The Anarchist Ideal.” Texas Studies In Literature And Language 57.1 (2015): 80-105. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Rosen, Rebecca J. “Walt Whitman Is Great at Twitter.” The Atlantic (December 12, 2013) Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Ross, Shawna. “Hashtags, Algorithmic Compression, And Henry James’s Late Style.” Henry James Review 36.1 (2015): 24-44.MLA International Bibliography. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
“Twitter study looks for most effective ways to share info.” UWIRE Text 2016: Academic OneFile. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Vlieghe, Joachim, Jaël Muls, and Kris Rutten. “Everybody Reads: Reader Engagement With Literature In Social Media Environments.” Poetics 54.(2016): 25-37. ScienceDirect. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Whitman Noir : Black America And The Good Gray Poet. n.p.: Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2014], 2014. Library Catalog. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Ed. David S. Reynolds. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.
Whitman, Walt. Walt Whitman’s Selected Journalism. n.p.: Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, 2014., 2014. Library Catalog. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
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