Postcolonial Vision of Blake and Whitman : A Comparative Study of British and American Romanticism

1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 09610465
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 英語・英米文学
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: IMA-IZUMI Yoko University of Tsukuba, Institute of Literature and Linguistics, Associate Professor, 文芸・言語学系, 助教授 (40151667)
• Project Period (FY): 1997 – 1998
• Keywords: Blake / Whitman / postcolonial / Albion / Leaves of Grass / utopia / slavery / America

Research Abstract

Though recognized as radical romantics, Blake and Whitman have never been explored comparatively. They equally present a utopian, postcolonial vision of the world in their poetical works. Closely examining rhetoric and phrasing that are used in their works, I have clarified that such a vision is disturbed by some elements in their anti-colonial discourse.
Blake created a protagonist called Albion, who is supposed to be a universal man. Distinctions between master and slave, white and black, European and non- European are expected to disappear by the creation of the universal man. But Albion is at the same time representative of England, Albion being an old name for England in the first place. Blake' s postcolonial scheme therefore embraces contradictory elements in the configuration of Albion.
Whitman reveals the same kind of contradiction in his depiction of a protagonist called "I." Equivalent to Blake's Albion, Whitman's "I" claims that he is representative of all tribes and all countries but, at the same time, emphasizes a priority of America, The "I" is, after all, a white American male who believes in his own country' s supremacy.
I have thus clarified homogeneity between Blake and Whitman by analyzing the way the two poets powerfully present a postcolonial vision and the way their rhetoric and phrasing betray their own initial scheme.