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American Scholar, The
American Scholar, The, address by Emerson delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard (Aug. 31, 1837), published separately in 1837, and reprinted in Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (1849). Called “our intellectual Declaration of Independence” by Holmes, the work was immediately influential and remains important as an idealistic appeal for the active leadership of American society by native thinkers, developed through contact with the best products of former cultures and through free intercourse with nature and their fellow men.
The author announces that “Events, actions arise, that must be sung, that will sing themselves.” The original unit, man, has been “minutely subdivided and peddled out,” however, and “in this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect …he is Man Thinking.” The scholar, following “the ancient precept ‘Know thyself,’ and the modern precept, ‘Study Nature,’” must interpret the distinctive new culture, for “Each age must write its own books.” Yet he must act, as well as think and write. His duties are all implied in the term “self‐trust”; knowing himself and his function, he must be self‐reliant and free of bondage to the “popular cry.” Society's purpose is to produce perfect individuals, and the scholar's idealistic mission is both to embody this perfection in himself and to make use of his divine inspiration for the highest good of his fellows. |
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "American Scholar, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "American Scholar, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-AmericanScholarThe.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "American Scholar, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-AmericanScholarThe.html |
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American Scholar, The
American Scholar, The (1932–), quarterly journal published by the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa and aimed at embodying and furthering the purposes and implications of Emerson's address from which its title is derived. In addition to articles and book reviews it occasionally publishes poetry. Hiram Hayden remained editor until his death in December 1973.
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "American Scholar, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "American Scholar, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-AmericanScholarThe1.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "American Scholar, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-AmericanScholarThe1.html |
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