Whitman Sells Pants

One of Levi's new ads features the voice of Walt Whitman reading from his poem "America" (at least, the voice recorded on the wax cylinder is thought to be Walt's). I was stunned when I saw (and heard) this ad. Although I'm not too keen on peddling jeans, I think you should watch it. (And this one with lines from "Pioneers, O, Pioneers" if you're curious) 


I'm conflicted. If this mini-movie didn't have a Levi's label slapped on the back of it, I would think this was a beautiful translation (illustration? re-imagination?) of Walt's poem - a heart-stirring, patriotic vision of America as resilient, and equal, in the face of hardship and struggle. I'm impressed at how current they've made the poem feel - I like the choice of the rustic, scratched font that emphasizes Walt's words as he says them and echoes the scratched quality of the audio. In fact, I love how the terrible audio quality comes across as modern, electric, and almost rustic-apocalyptic, instead of old-fashioned or unintentional. It sounds quite a bit like a train, rolling onward...


And yet, Walt's voice is resurrected here to sell jeans? to sell an ideology of save-America-by-shopping? my heart aches a bit at this. 


Seth Stevenson has some interesting things to say about it on Slate... 


What do you think?? 

Wordle me this

After reading this post on Blogging About the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom, which listed a lot of enthusiastic ideas for using word clouds (which you can generate at wordle.net, like the ones I made below, and at other places, I'm sure), I started to wonder about what I could do with them.

Here's my blog as a word cloud (minus "Whitman" and "Egyptian" and the most common English words):

I'm curious to see what my blog will look like as a word cloud in a few months, as I write more, and on different topics. Will "museum" grow even though "hieroglyphics" will undoubtedly shrink?

For a different look, here's the 1855 "Song of Myself" in a word cloud (again, without the most common English words. if you leave those in, not surprisingly, the cloud is mostly one big "I").
Could we use a word cloud like this in a productive way in the classroom? I enjoyed making these two word clouds, but I think this is a tool which is easy to accidentally turn into a hands-on minds-off activity. How do we use the word cloud thoughtfully?

From the post I read (see above), I especially liked one teacher's idea of using a word cloud to start an analysis of her school's mission statement and website. For the literature classroom, one place to start could be to take one surprisingly frequent word (perhaps "night" in "Song of Myself"), and explore what re-considerations it might encourage you to make about the poem. On the flipside, you could also defend a frequent word, explaining why it is essential to your understanding of the poem. What else might be productive?

Translating Whitman into the Classroom

First, returning to Whitman and the "uniform hieroglyphic" -

In "A Backward Glance O'er Traveled Roads" (available in Prose Works 1892: The Collected Works of Walt Whitman, Vol. II), Whitman compares his years of work on Leaves of Grass to the work of Jean-Francois Champollion, the "father of Egyptology," who is most famous for  beginning the unlocking of Egyptian hieroglyphs using the Rosetta Stone. Studying the Rosetta Stone, Champollion recognized that some hieroglyphs are alphabetic, some are syllabic, and others are determinative (representing an entire idea). He began to record and publish translations in the early 1820s, but his Egyptian grammar and dictionary were not published until after his death. On his death bed, Champollion is said to have given the corrected proofs of the grammar to the printer, saying, "Be careful of this. It is my calling card to posterity." It is this story that Whitman references in "A Backward Glance" - he writes that he looks upon Leaves of Grass as his "definitive carte visite to the coming generations of the New World" (Prose Works 1892, 712-13).

The Rosetta Stone itself is a massive stone slab (3 feet tall x 2.4 feet wide x 1 foot deep), with inscriptions of the same text (a decree) written in three languages: Egyptian hieroglyphics, demotic Egyptian (ancient everyday Egyptian), and Greek. The opportunity to compare these three scripts proved to be the key to translating ancient hieroglyphics. These close-ups (thanks, JonesBlog!) of the Rosetta Stone show demotic Egyptian on the left, classical Greek in the middle, and hieroglyphics on the right:

So, the classroom assignments I'm considering for "Song of Myself" and the universal hieroglyphic are:


1) free write (5 min.) on connection(s) you might see between Whitman the poet and Champollion the translator/historian/explorer/surveyor and/or what you think might interest Whitman above the carved/drawn symbols of hieroglyphics


2) then find at least 5 instances in the poem where you think Whitman is touching on issues/ideas of translation. Include these in a blog post with your thoughts or answers to the questions below. You can either incorporate the quotes/instances into your writing, or post them as a kind of found poem. You will also need to include in your post a (brief) explanation of the reading strategy (or strategies) you've used to think about or answer these questions.
What is Whitman translating/interpreting/reading? In other words, what are his "texts"? How are his "texts" like hieroglyphics? How does he imagine himself (or poets) to be like Champollion, the historian/explorer/surveyer/translator? Who is he translating for? What role does Whitman imagine for readers? 


3) Then, in class we'll discuss the students' ideas about "Song of Myself" and translation, moving toward a discussion of the imagined reader's role in the poem, and questions like these:
What strategies does Whitman use to encourage this role, or recruit his readers? What is the relationship between poet and reader? Reader and "text"? How do we read poetry? What does Whitman think (in "Song of Myself")  that poetry can do? What might the heroic quest (for knowledge? for self? for truth?) have to do with writing/reading/poetry?


4) We'll read and discuss the Norton Anthology of Poetry's "translation" or curation of "Song of Myself" (which uses the 1881 version and includes section 1 (I celebrate myself...), section 6 (the grass), section 11 (28 bathers), section 24 (through me many voices...), and section 52 (barbaric yawp and bootsoles)). We will focus on questions of curation, of what this version emphasizes, and in essence, argues about "Song of Myself."


5) Students will be assigned to curate their own version of "Song of Myself" and post it to their blog. They will be asked write an explanation of the choices they made and the effects they hoped to achieve with those choices (a more formal written piece that will be turned in to me). Finally, they will be asked to read and comment on at least 2 of their classmates' curations.

a uniform hieroglyphic

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;

How could I answer the child?....I do not know what it is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,

A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,

Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark,           and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child....the produced babe of the vegetation.

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic

(Leaves of Grass, 1855, pg. 13)

Another intriguing piece of historical context to consider with "Song of Myself" is this image of the "hieroglyphic," or more broadly, Egyptian imagery. It turns out that in the same year Whitman published the first edition of leaves of grass (1855), he also published "One of the Lessons Bordering Broadway: The Egyptian Museum," in Life Illustrated. In this article, he describes his own interest in all things Egyptian:


"The great 'Egyptian Collection' was well up in Broadway, and I got quite acquainted with Dr. Abbott, the proprietor—paid many visits there, and had long talks with him, in connection with my readings of many books and reports on Egypt—its antiquities, history, and how things and the scenes really look, and what the old relics stand for, as near we can now get. . . . As said, I went to the Egyptian Museum many, many times; sometimes had it all to myself—delved at the formidable catalogue—and on several occasions had the invaluable personal talk, correction, illustration and guidance of Dr. A. himself" (Walt Whitman, New York Dissected: A Sheaf of Recently Discovered Newspaper Articles by the Author of Leaves of Grass, (New York: Rufus Rockwell Wilson, 1936), 28.)



For more on this, take a look at New York Dissected (1936), which not only features the Life Illustrated article, but also other articles Whitman published on architecture, opera, and slavery. You could also take a look at Stephen Tapscott's article, "Whitman's Egypt in 'Song of Myself,'" which makes a case for reading the poem in terms of Egyptian imagery and mythology. 


What I think I'm most interested in is the specific image of the hieroglyph and how I might use that in a consideration of poem's focus on translation/reading and its recruitment of the reader. Most likely, there'll be more on this shortly...

(This 1853 poster advertisement for the museum comes to you courtesy of The Brooklyn Museum)

Party like it's 1855?

Celebrations might be another "outside the poem" topic which we could pursue with "Song of Myself." It looks like the "celebration" in the opening line of the poem is the only time Whitman actually uses that word, but he also includes a catalog of contemporary types of celebrations (pg. 36 of the 1855 edition):

Upon the race-course, or enjoying pic-nics or jigs or a good game of base-ball,

At he-festivals with blackguard jibes and ironical license and bull-dances and           drinking and laughter,

At the cider-mill, tasting the sweet of the brown squash....sucking the juice           through a straw,

At apple-pealings, wanting kisses for all the red fruit I find,

At musters and beach-parties and friendly bees and huskings and house-raisings;

Could research into the cultural context of celebrations help us better understand what he means by celebrating himself? What does Whitman see in American celebrations?

Ahoy, there, Walt

In "Song of Myself," Whitman is fascinated with exhalation and inhalation; by following some of the poem's gestures to the outside, seeing what we find in the cultural world of mid-19th century America (exhalations), and then turning round to re-examine the poem with that cultural find in mind- we will mimic the repeating process of an outward breath and then a drawing in that Whitman uses in the poem. And hopefully this will let us dive deeper into the poem, or catch more of it in our understanding...

So, how about considering this passage from the poem (pg. 38 of the 1855 edition), which features arctic exploration? It's not a famous or pivotal passage, but the context of arctic exploration turns out to be quite surprising and dramatic.

I anchor my ship for a little while only,

My messengers continually cruise away or bring their returns to me.

I go hunting polar furs and the seal... leaping chasms with a pike-pointed staff            ....clinging to topples of brittle and blue.

I ascend to the foretruck.... I take my place late at night in the crow's nest....           we sail through the arctic sea.... it is plenty light enough,

Through the clear atmosphere I stretch around on the wonderful beauty,

The enormous masses of ice pass me and I pass them.... the scenery is plain in           all directions,

The white-topped mountains point up in the distance.... I fling out my fancies           toward them;

We are about approaching some great battlefield in which we are soon to be           engaged,

We pass the colossal outposts of the encampments.... we pass with still feet and           caution;

Or we are entering by the suburbs some vast and ruined city.... the blocks and           fallen architecture more than all the living cities of the globe.

I am a free companion.... I bivouac by invading watchfires.

I turn the bridegroom out of bed and stay with the bride myself,

And tighten her all night to my thighs and lips.

My voice is the wife's voice, the screech by the rail of the stairs,

They fetch my man's body up dripping and drowned.

I understand the large hearts of heroes,

The courage of present times and all times;

In the 1850s (and in most of the 19th century), there was a fascination, almost a mania for exploring the arctic regions - in order to map them and to find the long-sought Northwest Passage, which was imagined to be of great commercial value.

This map is from the 1870s, but it shows the supposed open sea above North America, which the explorers were seeking:

In the 1850s, interest in arctic exploration focused on the mysterious disappearance of the famous British explorer Sir John Franklin. Franklin and his entire crew of 129 men were lost during their 1845 hunt for the Northwest Passage.

The mystery of their disappearance captivated Brits and Americans for years - both countries sent multiple expeditions in search of the lost crew (or at least clues to their disappearance) and newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic were filled with reports, illustrations, maps, and such about the fascinating mystery. In fact, this has been called the first mass media mystery - in that new technologies allowed the public to see and follow the clues as they were uncovered. Hundreds of reports of the expedition and the search for story of the explorer's disappearance were published.

Confident images published on the eve of the expedition, like these showing the industriousness of the explorers and the wonders of the Arctic...

Gave way to grimmer, though no less romanticized, depictions of the North:

In the early 1850s, on an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, Captain Robert McClure established the existence of the fabled Northwest Passage, although he was not able to sail through it. On Nov. 12, 1853, the New York Times began its coverage of McClure's expedition with this dispatch (w/ my underlining):

Another chapter has been added to the long and eventful history of Arctic exploration; and it announces the fact which all past endeavor has sought to demonstrate. Capt. McClure, one of the bravest of the many noble spirits who have lavished upon the frozen icebergs of the Pole, heroism equal to the conquest of nations, has spent three years of his life amid the solitudes of that desolate region; and though no relic of Sir John Franklin has met his eye, he has partly accomplished the work which Franklin undertook. He has established the fact that a passage exists between the Atlantic and Pacific through the ocean that surrounds the Pole.[...]It is doubtful, indeed, whether the vast accumulations of ice on that route will ever permit it to be pursued; and it seems quite certain that no practical use of the channel can ever be made. But the geographical science gains by the knowledge that the passage exists, and that America is only an island.[...]In another part of this morning's Times we commence the publication of the official dispatches, in which he gives a detailed narrative of his experience and observations during the whole period of his sojourn in that region of awful and sublime desolation. They are very voluminous and will occupy a large portion of our space for several successive days; --but we are confident they will be eagerly welcomed by the great mass of intelligent readers." 

Inspired by earlier searches, Charles Francis Hall departed on his own Sir John Francis hunt/expedition in 1860. When he returned in 1862, he brought two of his Inuit guides, Tookolito ("Hannah") and Ebierbing ("Joe") back to New York with him, where they were exhibited (!) at P.T. Barnum's museum.


To return to "Song of Myself" - the experience of the North that Whitman seems to be invoking is one closer to this euphoric image (already featured once above). A dreamscape of solitude, masculinity, and grandeur. Yet one that is still connected by incoming and outgoing messages. This image of the North, especially given the context of the 19th century exploration "age of heroes" and the disappearance of Sir John Franklin and crew, touches on many issues that might be fruitfully explored/traced in the poem:

man's relation to nature
the industriousness of man
self-exploration and exploration of nature
conquering
heroism
masculinity
nation/globe (especially American national identity in relation to Britain)
hunt/search
expansion
natives, not civilization
there & back (what do you bring back? are you different on return? do you return to the same place you left?)
mapping/cataloging




(Unless otherwise noted, all images are from Prof. R. Potter's online Franklin expedition museum)

Yawp

"No author's life in the nineteenth century was more continuously photographed than Whitman's."
- Ed Folsom, "'This Heart's Geography': The Photographs of Walt Whitman" 

That Whitman was fascinated by photographs of himself isn't surprising, given his interest in trying to depict, understand, and catalog the self - and his fascination with all things Walt. But, the photographs in The Walt Whitman Archive that stood out to me most (besides the ones of Walt in his birthday suit!), were the few that showed the poet with another person. 


This photo of Walt with his friend, Peter Doyle, is the earliest photo of Walt with anyone else. 

Looking at it reminds me that much of "Song of Myself" is about this kind of moment, trying to understand the experience of being an "I" looking at a "you." And, it reminds me that, wondrously, the great poet was just an ordinary man.


I get that same feeling looking at the archived images of his manuscripts...