Learning Through Literature: Whitman’s Concept of Democracy in Trump’s America
Abstract
‘Song of Myself’, by nineteenth-century American poet Walt Whitman, describes the concept of democracy, which is one of the foundations of the principle of freedom of speech in America. This essay discusses literature learning on the concept of democracy in the poem. The discussion becomes specific when the concept of democracy in the poem is linked with the current practice of democracy in America under President Trump’s administration. This essay argues that in its practice, the principle of democracy that upholds the freedom of speech of every individual in a dilemmatic way brings America to today’s controversial administration by President Trump. The essay will examine the pragmatic aspect of Whitman’s poem by referring to Mack (2002), and it will also focus on the xenophobic aspect of the poem by referring to Price (2004). The conclusion is drawn that even a utopian concept such as democracy is not entirely ideal, because the practice of democracy today is leading American people into an era of protest. Finally, the essay proposes the idea that literature learning of the concept of democracy in the poem also contributes to adopting a more critical view of the concept of democracy.
Keywords: democracy, Donald Trump, literature learning, pragmatics, xenophobia, Walt Whitman
References
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