THE POETIC ODYSSEY-A THEORETICAL DESCENT INTO THE WHITMANESQUE RENAISSANCE. PROLEGOMENA FOR WHITMAN’S UNIVERSE OF PERCEPTIONS
THE POETIC ODYSSEY-A THEORETICAL DESCENT INTO THE WHITMANESQUE RENAISSANCE. PROLEGOMENA FOR WHITMAN’S UNIVERSE OF PERCEPTIONS

Summary/Abstract: The canonization of Walt Whitman in the spectrum of the American Romantic corpus represents an act of acceptance and tribute to the literary construct “Leaves of Grass”, as well as an edifice in honor of the novelty brought to poetry by the daring “bard”. Nevertheless, the Whitmanesque Romanticism is a slightly distinct entity in itself as it breaks from the canonic compound and sets its own identity as a workforce that dismantles the trademark of American Romanticism. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the poetic level at which Whitman reunites Romanticism and Americanism, while, at the same time, it disembarks from the literary mainstream. To parallel the Whitmanesque universe of perceptions solely to the Romantic pillars of idealism and rebellion would be unfair and insufficient, for which reason one significant aspect demands focus, namely, the depiction of the poetical responsibility and purpose. The leading premise that serves for the interpretation of this poetical structure is Roger Chartier’s idea that “works have no stable, fixed meaning”, for which reason a perpetual act of recontextualization and reiteration is a must.

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