WALT WHITMAN’IN ÇİMEN YAPRAKLARI: "BENLİĞİMİN ŞARKISI" ŞİİRİ İLE ON DOKUZUNCU YÜZYIL AMERİKAN İDEALİNE GÜNÜMÜZDEN BİR BAKIŞ


Giresunlu L.

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, vol.9, no.2, pp.238-266, 2022 (AHCI)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 9 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Journal Name: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI)
  • Page Numbers: pp.238-266
  • Dokuz Eylül University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This work evaluates the poem, Song of Myself in Leaves of Grass by the nineteenth-century American poet Walt Whitman, through the perspective of leading literary writers and critics of the field, as a work of high literature, based on the original 1855 edition. In this study, Whitman’s nineteenth century America, and present-day racial discourse is evaluated comparatively: to this end, two popular programs aired through American PBS Television in 2014 and 2017, realized in memory of Whitman are examined within the context of present-day racial discourse. The first recording addresses the reprinting process of Whitman's 1855 original text of Song of Myself through hundred-year-old machines (PBS NewsHour, 2014). The other recording introduced by PBS News Hour in 2017 is the documentary series named Whitman, Alabama, planned as 52 episodes, by Jennifer Crandall. It concerns the experiences of modern-day southern whites and African-Americans in their current lives through Walt Whitman's Song of Myself (Crandall, 2020b). However, the sincerity in the content of both program recordings, and the effort to commemorate the literary grandeur contradict the ironic racist statements in the program titles or promotions. Therefore, this study compares the idealized nineteenth-century America through Walt Whitman's poem Song of Myself and conveys the dilemmas of embracing literature and history within the scope of today's racial consciousness.