American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions (Religion in America)

The first major study since the 1930s of the relationship between American Transcendentalism and Asian religions, and the first comprehensive work to include post-Civil War Transcendentalists like Samuel Johnson, this book is encyclopedic in scope. Beginning with the inception of Transcendentalist Orientalism in Europe, Versluis covers the entire history of American Transcendentalism into the twentieth century, and the profound influence of Orientalism on the movement--including its analogues and influences in world religious dialogue. He examines what he calls "positive Orientalism," which recognizes the value and perennial truths in Asian religions and cultures, not only in the writings of major figures like Thoreau and Emerson, but also in contemporary popular magazines. Versluis's exploration of the impact of Transcendentalism on the twentieth-century study of comparative religions has ramifications for the study of religious history, comparative religion, literature, politics, history, and art history. Transcendentalism Is Well-known As A Peculiarly American Philosophical And Religious Movement. Less Well-known Is The Extent To Which Such Famous Transcendentalists As Ralph Waldo Emerson And Henry David Thoreau Drew On Religions Of Asia For Their Inspiration. Arthur Versluis Offers A Comprehensive Study Of The Relationship Between The American Transcendentalists And Asian Religions. He Argues That An Influx Of New Information About These Religions Shook Nineteenth-century American Religious Consciousness To The Core. With The Publication Of Ever More Material On Buddhism, Hinduism, And Taoism, The Judeo-christian Tradition Was Inevitably Placed As Just One Among A Number Of Religious Traditions. Fundamentalists And Conservatives Denounced This Influx As A Threat, But The Transcendentalists Embraced It, Poring Over The Sacred Books Of Asia To Extract Ethical Injunctions, Admonitions To Self-transcendence, Myths Taken To Support Christian Doctrines, And Manifestations Of A Supposed Coming Universal Religion. The First Major Study Of This Relationship Since The 1930s, American Transcendentalism And Asian Religions Is Also The First To Consider The Post-civil War Transcendentalists, Such As Samuel Johnson And William Rounseville Alger. Examining The Entire Range Of American Transcendentalism, Versluis's Study Extends From The Beginnings Of Transcendentalist Orientalism In Europe To Its Continuing Impact On Twentieth-century American Culture. This Exhaustive And Enlightening Work Sheds Important New Light On The History Of Religion In America, Comparative Religion, And Nineteenth-century American Literature And Popular Culture. Introduction: Transcendentalism And The Orient -- Predecessors: The First Meetings Of East And West -- The German Tradition And The East -- The English Romantics And The Orient Fair -- Joseph Priestley: Moses And The Hindoos -- Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, And The Orient -- Emerson's Asia Mine, -- Thoreau Sauntering Eastward -- Alcott's Universal Bible -- The Dissenters: Melville And Brownson -- Melville As Gnostic -- Orestes Brownson And Tradition -- The Ambience: Orientalism In General-interest American Magazines -- The Popular Climate West And East -- Ambience And Embodiment Of Transcendental Dreams -- Converting The World -- Images Of America's Golden Age -- Transcendental Dreams And Earthly Fiction -- Transcendentalist Periodicals And The Orient -- Literary Religion And Social Reform: The Western Messenger, The Dial, The Present, The Harbinger, And The Spirit Of The Age -- The Universal And The Particular: The Cincinnati Dial, The Radical, The Index, And The Journal Of Speculative Philosophy -- Patterns In Literary Religion: The Orient And The Second Cycle Of Transcendentalism -- Beginnings: Lydia Maria Child And The Progress Of Religious Ideas -- Unitarian Transcendentalism: James Freeman Clarke And Elizabeth Peabody -- Universal Religion: John Weiss And Samuel Johnson -- The Sympathetic Universalism Of William Rounseville Alger -- Octavius Brooks Frothingham's Religion Of Humanity And Moncure Conway's Anthropocentrism -- Drawing Conclusions In The Drawing Room -- Artists And Asia -- Popular Ramifications -- The Twentieth Century. Arthur Versluis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 329-349) And Index. Contents 1. Introduction: Transcendentalism and the Orient 2. Predecessors: The First Meetings of East and West The German Tradition and the East The English Romantics and the Orient Fair Joseph Priestley: Moses and the Hindoos 3. Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, and the Orient Emerson's "Asia Mine" Thoreau Sauntering Eastward Alcott's Universal Bible 4. The Dissenters: Melville and Brownson Melville as Gnostic Orestes Brownson and Tradition 5. The Ambience: Orientalism in General-Interest American Magazines The Popular Climate West and East Concluding Remarks 6. Ambience and Embodiment of Transcendental Dreams Converting the World Images of America's Golden Age Transcendental Dreams and Earthly Fiction 7. Transcendentalist Periodicals and the Orient Literary Religion and Social Reform: The Western Messenger, The Dial, The Present, The Harbinger, and The Spirit of the Age The Universal and the Particular: The Cincinnati Dial, The Radical, The Index, and the Journal of Speculative Philosophy 8. Patterns in Literary Religion: The Orient and the Second Cycle of Transcendentalism Beginnings: Lydia Maria Child and The Progress of Religious Ideas Unitarian Transcendentalism: James Freeman Clarke and Elizabeth Peabody Universal Religion: John Weiss and Samuel Johnson The Sympathetic Universalism of William Rounseville Alger Octavius Brooks Frothingham's Religion of Humanity and Moncure Conway's Anthropocentrism 9. Conclusion Drawing Conclusions in the Drawing Room Artists and Asia Popular Ramifications The Twentieth Century Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z