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  • The Romantic and Transcendental Quests of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Victor-Marie Hugo See large image

    The Romantic and Transcendental Quests of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Victor-Marie Hugo (Studies in Comparative Literature, 61) (Hardback) By (author) Regina M Young

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    Short Description for The Romantic and Transcendental Quests of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Victor-Marie HugoThis study shows that there is a substantial philosophical congeniality between Ralph Waldo Emerson and Victor Hugo. It shows many affinities, and examines how both Emerson's and Hugo's ideas and perceptions grew out of the 19th century Western ideology.
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  • This study demonstrates that there is a substantial philosphical congeniality between Ralph Waldo Emerson and Victor Hugo which has so far gone unnoticed. It shows many striking affinities, offering a fresh perspective on both authors. It examines how both Emerson's and Hugo's ideas and perceptions grew out of 19th-century Western ideology, as well as their personal psycho-physiological experiences of the world. In arguing for an understanding of Hugo as a Gallic Transcendentalist, this comparative study corrects one popular image of the French writer, that of a moody, eccentric megalomaniac and superficial trifler. Beginning with a lively cultural-studies analysis of both writers' personal as well as socio-historical backgrounds, it examines specific, authentic 19th-century articles from French and American journals in order to shed light on what critics had to say about the foreign poet. There is also a collection and analysis of Emerson's never-written "French traits", Emerson's perceptions of the French as a nation as expressed in his journal entries. The study then gives a detailed analysis of Emerson's and Hugo's main affinity - their Transcendentalist cosmology.