Assertions and questions

I mentioned that I practice mesmerism, right? Sometimes I channel voices other than mine, and sometimes those voices demand to manifest themselves on my blog. There's really nothing I can do; it's a family trait.

So the following is written by CP, a 21st-century graduate student who graciously allows me to hijack her technology in order to speak through the centuries.

First, the basic assertion animating this blog/paper: 1) Holgrave the character is a “type,” representative of a certain group of artistic, intellectual, idealistic, progressive reformers in 1840s-50s New England and 2) far from being a relic of the past, that same (or a parallel) type is still at work in American culture today—and more visible than ever, largely thanks to social media. 

Second, some questions this blog hopes to address: How are Holgrave (and Ishmael) representative of, or a parody of, or a reaction to a particular sort of mid-19th century male counter-culture? How are they, as characters, and artists, and stand-ins for Hawthorne and Melville themselves, participating in the creation of a new American intellectual/reform culture? What is the connection between their radical, reformer spirit and American identity? How does the "type" they inhabit show up even in today's pop-intellectual culture?

Check back, as we will be revisiting these questions at the end of the blog to see what kind of answers we are able to provide!