No longer a dull book

Abstract

Ralph Waldo Emerson has received scant attention as a philosopher of reading. One reason for his absence as a philosopher in the literature on reading theory could be connected to the challenges his writings pose, as Zwarg (1993) puts it, because he didn’t write like a traditional philosopher. He believed his writings should inspire his readers, that his work should provoke thinking and questioning rather than provide explicit arguments on the topics he addresses. This project takes up the challenge posed by Emerson’s style of writing through examining the corpus of his essays – extending from his earliest publication in 1836 to his posthumous publications in the 1880s – and argues that Emerson merits consideration as a theorist of reading in educational circles. The project begins by examining extant documentation on how Emerson learned to read and his own reading practices. The second chapter continues setting the foundation for this project by exploring the contentious galaxy of literary critics and philosophers who have responded to his work over the last two centuries. The third chapter builds a case for the productive uses of experience from an Emersonian perspective and sets the stage for the next trio of chapters that delve into the principle argument of this experiment: Emerson’s ideas on reading. Chapter four picks up where chapter three leaves off and explores the transformative power of aesthetic experiences when reading from an Emersonian perspective. Chapter five looks at reading as a form of engaged democratic citizenship and how Emerson viewed acts of reading and thinking as forms of action, critical questioning, and avenues for reform. Chapter six argues that Emersonian reading practices serve as a means for developing an ethical stance toward self and other by looking at Emerson’s emphasis on the importance of relational connections among and across selves, others, texts, and society. The last chapter in this project speculates on how an Emersonian perspective on reading subverts the dominant discourse in US schools because it construes reading as a continual process of exploration, transformation, and learning rather than a linear, lockstep process aimed at pre-approved responses and right answers.