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‘Have the elder races halted?’: British socialist readings of ‘Pioneers! O Pioneers’

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Harris, Kirsten (2009) ‘Have the elder races halted?’: British socialist readings of ‘Pioneers! O Pioneers’. 19: interdisciplinary studies in the long nineteenth century (9). doi:10.16995/ntn.521 ISSN 1755-1560 .

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.16995/ntn.521

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Abstract

This short essay analyses British socialist readings of Walt Whitman’s ‘Pioneers! O Pioneers!’ and explores some of the ways in which the poem was appropriated for the socialist movement. Despite its overt American nationalism, ‘Pioneers’ was one of the key Whitman poems for British socialists: extracts were frequently reprinted in socialist newspapers and periodicals, it was referred to in articles and obituaries, and it was invoked in speeches. It was assimilated into a familiar fin de siècle socialist spiritual discourse and used directly as political propaganda. This paper discusses the means by which the ‘Americanness’ of ‘Pioneers’ was either overlooked or actively edited out and its militaristic components were emphasised. By focusing on the martial imagery and rhetoric of ‘Pioneers’, nineteenth-century British socialists were able to translate Whitman’s call to America into a rallying cry for the extension of a global socialist democracy.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History
H Social Sciences > HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism
P Language and Literature > PS American literature
Divisions: Faculty of Arts > School for Cross-faculty Studies
Faculty of Arts > School for Cross-faculty Studies > Liberal Arts
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Political and social views, Socialism -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
Journal or Publication Title: 19: interdisciplinary studies in the long nineteenth century
Publisher: University of London, Birkbeck College, Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies
ISSN: 1755-1560
Official Date: 9 November 2009
Dates:
DateEvent
9 November 2009Published
1 July 2009Accepted
Number: 9
DOI: 10.16995/ntn.521
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access (Creative Commons)
Copyright Holders: Kirsten Harris
Date of first compliant deposit: 29 August 2018
Date of first compliant Open Access: 29 August 2018
Open Access Version:
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