During the 18th century, the leaders and thinkers of the day tended to focus their research and ideologies on what was best for society. During the turn of the century, the Romantics swung the opposite direction. After all the talk of utility and the community, these radicals and revolutionaries lifted the individual. They used art in the forms of novels, poems, and paintings as the vehicle to glorify uniqueness and empower the one. In a similar way, the digital age has centered itself on the individual by affording new ways for people to discover and express themselves. Social media, blogs, and constant connectivity are all modern tools used towards this end. “You do you” was the call of the Romantics, and its echo is heard once again today.
editing by Cassidy Crosby, girl's photo by Sharbat Gula, background by Thomas Cole
Art was and is the perfect medium for celebrating the self. Oscar Wilde said, “Art is the most intense form of individualism that the world has known.” This intense individualism can be seen in William Wordsworth’s poem “Tintern Abbey.” The poem is written in first person perspective about the narrator’s thoughts. “To me was all in all,” Wordsworth writes. “I cannot paint what then I was.” Instead of telling a story of a group of people, Wordsworth attempts to discover and describe himself. The romantic vision of the beauty of the world in the self was indeed shared by Wordsworth. Although he declares himself unable to “paint what then [he] was”, he exemplifies the romantic tendency to use art to showcase that beauty to the viewer.
This intensity has carried over and been revived in the modern day through various genres of the appropriately-named ‘indie’ music. For example, songs like ‘Would That I’ by Hozier hearken back to the idealization of nature and the primacy of emotional expression typical of the romantic period. Lines like “the sound of the saw must be known by the tree” and “I still worship the flame” are visceral expressions of deeply personal emotions that poetry remains the best medium of sharing-- though modern poetry is frequently set to music. The love that Hozier describes over and over again in his music is raw and transcendent-- a form of spirituality, and an expression of his deepest self.
Music is not the only form of modern art that seeks to rediscover the self. The uniquely modern phenomenon of online social media-- especially sites like Pinterest and Instagram-- allows for a more accessible way to convey our hopes, fears, dreams, and achievements. “Instagram culture” is decried for its apparent shallowness and narcissism, but in reality, the soft, filtered, carefully curated pictures simply enable a deep-seated human need to express the beautiful parts of one’s life-- even if that means romanticizing your own life and leaving out all of the ugly bits. You’re in good company-- Tennyson wasn’t a fan of the ugly bits either.
Both the Romantic era and the Digital age empower the individual and promote self expression through art. Though almost 200 years separate the two periods of time, men and women in both tried to use art to understand themselves and express that understanding to others. Poems, paintings, photo-editing software, blogs, and music recordings have all been implemented to this end. The difference between individualism in the Romantic period and the 21st century isn’t what people were trying to accomplish, but the tools they were using.
Emma Crisp
Joseph Pratt
Alexander Salinas
Jackson Chandler
Cassidy Crosby
The point about Instagram is well taken. It's often described as shallow, but is there anything really wrong with showing people good things that have happened? People have always been more eager to share the good than the bad. There's a little bit of Sprezzatura in it as well to put your best foot forward and appear to have everything under control.
ReplyDeleteWe agree with you, Gabe. There is nothing wrong with wanting to show the best side of you. Just like the romantics of that bygone era, we today still have what we describe as "a deep-seated human need to express the beautiful parts of one’s life". Instagram is just a modern tool that we use to satisfy that need. I also agree with your connection to sprezzatura and the ability to appear to be "in control" based on how you present yourself. The caveat we give concerning "Instagram culture" is that sometimes people lose touch with the fact that life is not limited to those perfected snapshots, and that there are struggles beyond the façade.
DeleteI love your conclusion - that the difference between Romanticism and the Digital Age is mostly in the tools (and that you used those same tools yourself to make the point - clever!). I'd argue as well that the digital age makes great use of modern tools and Romantic emotional expression to push for social changes in a similar way to Modernists.
ReplyDelete-Kensie
very much so! modern social media has allowed for unprecedented access to both information and people who can organize to make change. but that change comes out of emotion-- social justice is a function of empathy, no matter how we justify it logically, and that's a legacy of romantic-era radicalism.
DeleteI like the similitude you made between the Instagram culture and Tennyson with them both not particularly liking the negative and ugly parts of life. Super cool how you connected it with Hozier and recognizing that music is todays version of what poetry would have been like for those back during the Romantic period. The songs that I always end up appreciating more are those where you feel like the artist is actually explaining a piece of themselves to you. It feels different than those that seem to just be a string of words someone put to a beat because others deemed it 'catchy'. I really appreciated your post.
ReplyDeleteIf you like songs where the artist gives a piece of their songs you should check out NF. Have you heard of him? He would’ve fit in perfect with the Romantics had he been born 200 years earlier. He is all about sharing his feelings and thoughts. He has an album called “Therapy Session” because of how much he uses his music to just share his feelings.
DeleteI concur! NF is a pretty romantic guy & a talented artist. Big fan of his.
DeleteI also loved the Instagram comparison! I think that even more so now the individual can express themselves and the beauty present in their lives through mediums like social media. There are multiple new ways to create and circulate art now that allows it to be seen on a much more global scale. I even think of documentaries like "Planet Earth" which use the latest and greatest filmmaking technology to portray the beauty that exists naturally among animal life.
ReplyDeleteThis post really resonates with me! Although I try to be candid on social media, I recognize that my life looks pretty picture-perfect online, when in reality it's definitely not that way. I do think that I use Instagram specifically as a tool to cultivate my personal brand & emphasize things that are significant to me. I feel empowered by my witty captions & find joy in the pictures I post with those I love (if you wanna check it out to see what I'm talking about, my insta is @jilliankayp). I am curious though, do you think that Instagram or other forms of social media would be better (or more beneficial) with the ugly bits included? How much romanticizing is too much?
ReplyDeleteI think the danger in romanticizing comes from the sense of isolation it can incite. People tend to compare themselves to other people in order to get a sense of who and what they are, and if they feel like other people's lives are perfect because that's all they see, then that could be bad. However, I think we have different social media sites for a reason; they tend to fulfill different purposes. On Instagram, I want to keep a photo album of all these happy things, you know? For me, Twitter is much more realistic and an accurate representation of my life. And so I'd never post, "what's up today i cried no less than ten times" on Instagram, but I wouldn't think twice about posting it on Twitter, you know?
DeleteThis is interesting! In my experience we all try to romanticize our lives on social media and sometimes we expect other to do the same. While some of us have come to appreciate people being "genuine" and talking about the bad on social media there are times where those people are labeled as annoying or pessimistic and should keep their complaints to themselves.
ReplyDeleteI guess you just cant make everyone happy haha. Like you are saying, we call people shallow if they are very romanticizing in the way that they portray their daily life, and then we turn around and complain about someone being whiny or bitter if they put up something that maybe isn't a barrel of sunshine. I do feel like one part of the solution may be found in doing what Dr. Burton has recommended to us, and that is be a part of the conversation. When we are participants instead of passive consumers there is less to complain about because other people's posts no longer serve the needs of our consumption but we are all coming together in a digital format to have a dialogue of words, pictures, sounds and more.
DeleteI think the thing about Digitalism is that it's so new, we don't know how to characterize it yet. The digital age has allowed for more than just a transformation of communication--it's transformed language, science, social studies, music and art. So many people I know only think that art is art if it's hyperrealism or painted during the Renaissance, but I think our digital age is perhaps more artistic than any before--if only because of the vast amounts of people that can share art and the vast amounts of art that people can see. I think the good old days aren't always better. More inspiration means more idea genesis, and that's something we do really well now.
ReplyDeleteI feel like social media often gets a really bad reputation, especially from older folks, but it's not all bad. It helps us to stay connected with people we have met from all over the world! I love your take on how instagram isn't all bad and shouldn't be taken too seriously. It's fun to celebrate the triumphs in our lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that. I think there is a balance we as individuals and as a society need to strike with how much time, energy, and importance we give to social media compared to the other aspects of life. One thing I have noticed in this class as we have studied themes is that the themes are really a result of the balance each society finds in terms of emotion vs science, community vs individual, etc. All parts are important, but what balance we choose, it seems, is what shapes our culture.
DeleteMy favorite part of this blog post was when you said "Instagram culture” is decried for its apparent shallowness and narcissism, but in reality, the soft, filtered, carefully curated pictures simply enable a deep-seated human need to express the beautiful parts of one’s life-- even if that means romanticizing your own life and leaving out all of the ugly bits." I feel like every person on Instagram is telling their story, good or bad and that they are trying to share and be an inspiration to others or as a small cry for help or sympathy during the hard times.
ReplyDeleteYes, love this! I love that our class has focused on how the digital world is also a medium for good (and distancing ourselves from the ever-repetitive admonitions of the "evils of technology"). It is so cool to learn about how these different stages in time led to the value of the individual; thus, paving way for the digital era where digital means and platforms help bring romanticism to the simple ways of human communication through social media.
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