Romantic revolutions: Discourse and dissent.
Item
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Title
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Romantic revolutions: Discourse and dissent.
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Identifier
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AAI9946143
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identifier
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9946143
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Creator
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Borkowski, David.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Ira Shor
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Date
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1999
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Language, Rhetoric and Composition | Literature, Modern | American Studies
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Abstract
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Contemporary expressivism and Romanticism have been linked ever since expressivism became a bona fide method of writing instruction in the early seventies. More often than not, that association has been categorized negatively. In 1971, for example, James Kinneavy in A Theory of Discourse declared "expressionistic theory...to be an unfortunate error of nineteenth century Romanticism." That disapproving connection would continue. Twenty years later, in "Rhetoric, Poetic, and Culture," James Berlin charged that the ill-conceived emphasis placed upon a "sovereign subject who can transcend language" in an expressivist theory of discourse "is of course a development of the Romantic period in English literary history." To rhetoricians like Berlin, Romanticism and expressivism eliminate culture and society from consideration. Meanwhile, other rhetoricians attack expressivism for lacking intellectual rigor, yet another unfortunate outcome of its relationship to Romanticism. For instance, Patricia Bizzell argued in "Composing Processes" that expressivism is "a sort of debased Romantic version of creativity" that causes students to believe in "instant text production." In this pejorative way, Romanticism and contemporary expressivism have been connected; it seems that the failure of one proves the ineffectiveness of the other.;However, critics of expressivism are correct to link it to Romanticism---but they do so with an incorrect reading of the political and historical genesis involved. Instead, when expressivism and Romanticism view composing as exploring personal experience and voice, they do so from the historical concepts of the political rights of individuals, key concerns in England during the Romantic period and in the social movements in the United States during the Sixties. Indeed, a study of the historical origins of Romanticism reveals that its political roots inspired discourse in opposition to received authorities and traditions, while an examination of expressivism reveals that it reflects the social conflicts of the Sixties and emerged as an alternative to traditional teacher-centered writing instruction. Therefore, in order to understand the positive link between expressivism and Romanticism, I will examine the historical and intellectual conditions out of which the ideas of "personal vision" and "voice" developed.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
