Blog 9 – Rational vs. Romantic

Up until this point, we have looked at many, many examples in order to determine which elements and what kind of style makes up this unique category of literary journalism. However, even in its dated time, Joseph Webb in “Historical Perspective on the New Journalism” perhaps captures the most rational and (surprisingly) comprehensive and (almost empirical) sense of new/literary journalism than any explanation seen so far. Webb notes that these new journalists (see: Wolfe) did not invent a new form of writing, but rather tapped into history and the very long tradition of Romanticism, which was an artistic and intellectual movement in Europe in the late 18^th century that was characterized by a “heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.” Webb argues that in many of the classic cases of “literary” new journalism, take on the assumptions of the Romantic, perhaps, the most important being an emphasis on the individual’s expression of emotion, whether that be the writer’s or the person’s emotions the writer is attempting to capture.

In this almost scientific dissection of literary journalism, Webb outlines two worldviews in the Rational vs. Romantic spectrum. First, Rational writing can be broken down into five concepts, 1) rationality, or the assumption that man behaves according to the way he thinks; 2) externality, or that reality is an external phenomenon understood by the senses; 3) uniformity, or the assumption that humans are fundamentally alike and it is their similarities that count; 4) statism, or the assumption that society is basically unchanging; and, 5) atomism, or the assumption that in order to understand reality, it must be cut into individual pieces and digested separately. Later, Webb counters with the fundamental elements of literary journalism, such as “reality is to be found by focusing on internal, rather than external, human processes and movements; that feeling and emotion are more essential to understanding human life and activity than are ideas; that a particular unique perspective is to be sought in reporting more than consensual one; and that human experience must be approached as a dynamic, organic phenomenon rather than as something which can be compartmentalized.” These varying philosophical assumptions of Rational vs. Romantic reporting are rather brilliant in their classification and the reader has the feeling of “of course!” afterward, as if it was an unspoken truth now spoken out loud. I found myself nodding along as I read, dissecting, comparatively, my own experience as a newspaper journalist with the reading that we have done so far on literary journalism. However, I was rather relieved to see that Webb does not pretend to be so clear-cut when actually applying authors to the concepts of Rational vs. Romantic. Much like last week’s blog posts on plain style, readers have to attribute a sort of ranking system when examining literary journalism since “the concepts of Rationalism and Romanticism [can] be placed as polar ends of a continuum” that can still be applied today.

When reading Webb’s application of new journalists on the Rational vs. Romantic spectrum, the notion of finding a “way inside the specific individuals or groups about whom he was writing” rang especially true for that of Wolfe’s “Electric Kool Aid Acid Test,” or, as I am reading for my third book, Hunter S. Thompson’s “Hell’s Angels.” Of Orwell, Webb writes, “he lived among them, taking up residence with one of the families and following various family members through long period of time.” Thompson, in “Hell’s Angels,” takes up this exact cause as he immerses himself in the Angels, even going so far as to throw parties for them at his apartment and buy his own motorcycle for the full experience. Webb also notes an excerpt from “Hiroshima,” which clearly takes on the Romantic tendencies described by the author. One step further, Webb expands the paradigm to discuss the “combination of editorial or essayist writing” and the Romantic philosophy. I would argue that “Hell’s Angels” is an excellent example of this criteria, as Thompson aims to get inside the heads and emotions of the Angels while simultaneously lambasting the mainstream media for overdamaticizing and just plain getting facts wrong about the group. Webb later labels this type of writing “advocacy reporting,” or assuming that the “only things worth writing about or reporting are those things that he himself has first internalized or made his own.” Webb (perhaps accidentally) stumbles upon a never-ending predicament of all journalists in this sense when he points out that reality, to the [advocacy] reporter, is “internal, inside the reporter.” Can one ever really expect to report “reality” when each is shaped and molded to his or her own worldview and can only look through their own lenses? (But I digress.)

As a tribute to Webb’s nifty diagrams, I will now attempt to categorize our literary journalists up until this point on a Rationalist vs. Romantic continuum, ranging from most Rational to most Romantic:

RATIONALIST

AP story – on Piedmont Tornado: Though this article makes an attempt at literary journalism, as discussed in class, it ends up falling flat. With a meteorologist as the first quote, the authors make clear that it is more about telling the event than getting inside the mindset of the survivors. This piece characterizes the rational elements of externality and uniformity. 

Bob Greene – “So … We Meet at Last, Mr. Bond”: Greene captures nostalgia and insects his personal views/emotions in this excerpt, which is no doubt literary. However, it fails to hit on many other of Webb’s cylinders for Romantic reporting.

Daniel Defoe – “The True and Genuine Account of the Life and Actions of the Late Jonathan Wild”: In this excerpt, Defoe is modern for his time for the thoroughness of reporting and the scenic organization of his story. While this story is undoubtedly literary, it doesn’t appear to fall as much into the Romantic category, as its descriptions and depth into the characters are more horizontal, like of that of a play.

James Boswell – “The Life of Samuel Johnson”: Boswell uses “scene-by-scene” construction, copious dialogue and status details in its literary efforts. His emphasis on capturing his own expression of emotion makes this writing undoubtedly Romantic, yet it comes across as theatrical and stage-managed, which leaves it in a sort of limbo.

Rick Bragg – on Piedmont Tornado: In his NYT article, Bragg speaks with one voice for the community on “faith” while simultaneously capturing the tragedy with sentences such as, “The [body] bags were too long, and had to be rolled up from the bottom.” This is an excellent example of mainstream media taking on romantic descriptions and tendencies.

Joseph Mitchell – “Up in the Old Hotel”: Mitchell’s figurative descriptions at times remind one of Romantic poetry and his full encapsulation of Louie (and Louie’s past) successfully take the reader into the mindset of the character and his (and fear of) not making a mark on history.

CDB Bryan – “Friendly Fire” – In its Capote-esque style, CDB Bryan uses novelistic descriptions and sets the reader down in each scene. Perhaps the Romantic quality most utilized here is that feeling and emotion are more essential to understanding human life and activity than are ideas.

Jimmy Breslin – “It’s an Honor”: This story finds “reality in focusing on the internal,” posits that feeling and emotions are more essential to understanding life, and honors that a “particular unique perspective is sought in reporting than a consensual one.”

Chris Jones – “The Things that Carried Him”: This piece, like Breslin’s, captures the Romantic elements that feeling and emotion are more essential to understanding human life, a particular perspective is more useful, and as “reality is focused on the internal,” in this case, the characters’ reality.

Michael Herr – “Dispatches”: Perhaps the most telling Romantic element used here is Webb’s dynamic category, that human experience must be approached as a dynamic, organic phenomenon rather than as something which can be compartmentalized.

Walt Whitman – “Specimen Days”: Whitman’s “Specimen Days” is like a playbook for Romantic style with his powerful descriptions, use of self emotions and look inside the specific individuals about whom he was writing.

Truman Capote – “In Cold Blood”: In his nonfiction novel, Capote uses an novelistic approach to focus on internal processes, feeling and emotion, has a unique perspective and posits that human experience must be approached as a dynamic, organic phenomenon.

John Hersey – “Hiroshima”: Hersey, highlighted along with Wolfe by Webb, hits on all five of the elements of Romanticism.

Tom Wolfe – “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”: As mentioned above, “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” wants “to do more than just describe the conditions” in which the acid trippers were living, but he wanted to “describe the feelings and emotions and experiences” of the psychedelic experience. Wolfe focuses on the internal, feelings and emotions, unique perspective and human experience as a dynamic organic phenomenon.

ROMANTIC

Discussion question:

Who would you argue is the most Romantic literary journalist who we have read so far? Do you agree with my Rational vs. Romantic spectrum?