ATLANTIC MONTHLY - THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Yesterday was another MA Lecture Day. We discussed, inter alia, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959) is a seminal sociology book by the late Erving Goffman. It uses the imagery of the theatre in order to portray the importance of human – namely, social – action.  We discussed the notion of how language performs socially. How does language/writing fit into the social world and how does the social world fit round language and writing? How does one place language into a social context? One way is to start a publication. Which brings us to the 9^th November.

The Atlantic is an American magazine founded (as The Atlantic Monthly) in Boston, Massachusetts, on (so we believe) 9^th November 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets, and encouraging major careers. It published leading writers' commentary on abolition, education, and other major issues in contemporary political affairs.

The magazine's founders were a group of prominent writers of national reputation, who included Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., John Greenleaf Whittier and James Russell Lowell. Lowell was its first editor. That is quite some line-up of American literary talent.

James Russell Lowell (22 February, 1819 – 12 August, 1891)was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets. These poets usually used conventional forms and meters in their poetry, making them suitable for families entertaining at their fireside.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (14 June, 1811 – 1 July, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom. It energized anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. She wrote more than 20 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (27 February, 1807 – 24 March, 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere’s Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy and was one of the five Fireside Poets.

 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (29 August, 1809 – 7 October, 1894) was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat at the Breakfast-Table (1858). He is recognized as an important medical reformer.

 

John Greenleaf Whittier (17 December, 71807 – 7 September, 1892) was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets. Whittier was strongly influenced by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. Highly regarded in his lifetime and for a period thereafter, he is now remembered for his poem Snow-Bound, and the words of the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, from his poem The Brewing of Soma, sung to music by Hubert Parry.

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (25 May, 1803 – 27 April, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.

For a view of the Early Editions go to the Cornwall University Library at http://digital.library.cornell.edu/a/atla/ - you will find some great stuff.