Episode 13

American Canon: Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

00:00:00
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00:52:37

November 24th, 2020

52 mins 37 secs

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About this Episode

We've decided to begin a running series dedicated to the American Canon. We open the episode by talking about why we're doing this before launching into a discussion of our first entry in the series: Emerson's "Self-Reliance." Kojeve's animalization makes a come, Emerson's eternal present, we discuss the roots of American iconoclasm, John explains how Southern aristocrats saw themselves as the descendents of the combatants at the Battle of Hastings, and much, much more. This one was really fun to record and we look forward to expanding the series as time rolls on.

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Cover image: “Shroon Mountain, Adirondacks,” oil painting by Thomas Cole, 1838, a painter of the Hudson River school; in the Cleveland Museum of Art.