Philosophies, Themes and Symbols in the Poetry of Walt Whitman and Han Yong-Un (Religion, Patriotism, Democracy, Freedom, Independence)

Literary affinities discovered from religious, philosophical, and aesthetic perspectives may be traced in the poetry of the American Walt Whitman (1819-92) and the Korean Han Yong-Un (1879-1944). Even though no evidence of direct influence of Whitman on Han may be ascertained, there are numerous parallelisms in ideas, attitudes and visions in Whitman's Leaves of Grass and Han's Nim-Ui Chimmuck (Your Silence). Whitman and Han were representative national poets in their respective countries, where they conceived of themselves as spiritual leaders and political spokesmen. They both adapted the posture of philosopher, moralistic prophet, and social reformer. As zealous patriots both devoted their talents to constructing a new sense of nationalism in their respective nations. This nationalistic concern was rooted in their religious and philosophical backgrounds. From Emerson and other writers of New England, Whitman derived a combination of transcendentalism and democratic ideology; whereas Buddhist philosophy inspired in Han national aspiration for Korean freedom and independence.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Comparative and World Literature

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Kim, Young Ho

• Literature, Comparative
• Literature, Asian
• Literature, American

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8521803

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/71470