Essays

Whitman and "The Indian Problem": The Texts and Contexts of "Song of the Redwood-Tree"

Authors: ,

Abstract

Offers an extended reading of "Song of the Redwood-Tree" in the context of California history, arguing that Whitman is "comparing the redwoods in the archetypal California forest with the demise of the 'red' race in America, and he is attempting to crystallize a mythic resolution of what was historically known as 'the Indian problem'"; concludes that this poem is "a significant evolutionary text in the debate over race and culture in the nineteenth century."

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How to Cite: Blakemore, S. & Noble, J. (2004) “Whitman and "The Indian Problem": The Texts and Contexts of "Song of the Redwood-Tree"”, Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. 22(2/3). doi: https://doi.org/10.13008/2153-3695.1758