© Columbia University Press
Cultural Authority in the Age of Whitman: A Transatlantic Perspective
November, 2009
Cloth, 312 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-7486-3574-0
Edinburgh University Press
$95.00
"Günter Leypoldt's impressive new book represents a sophisticated theoretical attempt to historicize the transnational by showing how Whitman conceived of his cultural authority as involving a deliberate attempt to create parallels and analogies among different aspects of U.S. culture. By contrasting this synthetic version of romantic nationalism with more heterogeneous versions of nineteenth-century aesthetics, including a fascinating chapter on Whitman's own involvement with the language of classical music, Lepoldt
extends both the chronological and philosophical boundaries of critical discussions about the transnational turn. " — Paul Giles, University of Oxford
"This impressive study in cultural politics clarifies two puzzles: why did Whitman believe that there was a tight connection between free citizens and the ‘lawless music’ of free verse? And why has anyone else ever believed it? With real erudition, Leypoldt spans a history from the Enlightenment to modernism, while maintaining his focus on Whitman. Rich resources from British, German, French, and American intellectual history are marshaled by a strong sociological thesis." — Jonathan Arac, University of Pittsburgh