'Cheer up brothers, as we go, O’er the mountains, westward ho - '

Hamlin Garland | Veritism vs Realism

Hamlin Garland would be our next pit stop on this, our kutty little sojourn into the realm of realism!

Garland literally hypnotises me to the core! – For lack of a better word – And his  spell on me has been of such immense intensity!

And this, his sway and his charm are for you to read, to feel, to experience and to relish, albeit over a cuppa! ;-)

You’d sure have such enormous joy and satisfaction on reading through his manifesto, I promise ya!

On a personal note, should I confess, I’d never never read such pure, unalloyed freshness in art criticism in a long long time! And at times, I couldn’t hold back the tears of delight that rolled out of my pavapetta eyes while parsing my way through his amazing world of words and his astounding way with words! Such is the power of contamination that Hamlin wields over any of his avid, ardent and enthusiastic reader!

Well, a little note to serve an intro on Garland – Hamlin Garland – for us all, before we plunge headlong into his garden of spices! And as the good ol’ adage goes, the best wine is serve the last! So patience ladies and gentlemen! ;-)

Garland - Hamlin Garland - was literally, a jack of all genres! In fact, his foray into theatre began on his friendship with the great Herne – James A Herne! Like Herne, then, he also wrote drama criticism that set the tone and the tenor for realism in theatre of his day and for ours as well!

Garland also excelled in writing short stories - stories that brought out with such realistic touches to them, the hard and laborious life of the farmers of his region.

His most popular play titled, Under the Wheel, published in 1890, also proves an intense defence of the rural farmer, by arguing for tax reforms that would aid the small farmer, and alleviate his miserable living conditions.

To Hamlin, realism is when there’s a precise and accurate portrayal of both the unpleasant and the beautiful as well!

To this end, he came out with his very own theory, which he calls, ‘Veritism’! Veritism to Hamlin, is simply put, socially-conscious realism.

I am wonder-amazed many a time with the positive spirit that he exudes and radiates all through his oeuvre.

Be it his drama criticism, be it his autobiography (with a sequel), or be it his plays, Hamlin has such high zeal for a positive approach to life, people and things!

That’s one reason he argues for the portrayal of both the unpleasant and the beautiful as well, when one works on ‘realism-mode!’

A scene-painter of such high renown, Hamlin, also doubles up to the title of being the foremost representative of Midwestern Regionalism. Testament to his love for all things bright and beautiful, is evidenced in his stories, “Boy Life on the Prairie”, and in “Meadow Memories”, in especial, where he is literally on a delightful high!

Just a few excerpts from “Meadow Memories”, for a wintry November day for us all!

The meadows are described as being “in full flower, fragrant, green and yellow and white with blossoms and leaves, fresh from the rain, while a strong, cool wind is wafted from the clearing west.” (Does this remind you of last year’s Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s name!?]

Coming back – yes! from thence on, Garland’s poetic muse takes off on a poetic high, as he feels that, “Words fail; song itself cannot express it” –

My Western land, I love thee yet!

In dreams I ride my horse again,

And breast the breezes blowing fleet

From out the meadows cool and wet!

Even in his autobiography, (for which he received the coveted Pulitzer!) Hamlin exudes this positive spirit!

Remembering a good ol’ traditional ritual in his family, which exudes such optimism for higher possibilities in the westward front, he then takes to quoting from the song –

Cheer up brothers, as we go,

O’er the mountains, westward ho - 

Then o’er the hills in legions, boys,

Fair freedom’s star

Points to the sunset regions, boys.

Ha, ha, ha-ha!

At the same time, he doesn’t fail to portray the effect of the ‘leaving behind’ [of their home for newer pastures,] on the women folk.

That’s where he observes that, although his father’s face shone bright ‘with the light of the explorer’, his mother’s was not! Because that necessarily meant for her, ‘leaving behind’ her kith and kin, her parents and siblings, and all that she grew up with!

Hence he adds to say,

‘To all of the pioneer wives of the past that song had meant deprivation, suffering, loneliness, heart-ache’.

But nope! We ain’t gonna dig deep into Hamlin’s life and wife and family and folks over here!! Nayver!

Well, Ladies and gentlemen, we literary beings, (sometimes called human beings by the pavapetta lay), ;-) are all here gathered in this solemn post, to take home some beautiful tenets and snippets, that Hamlin has so richly endowed us with!

Hamlin proves a real invigorating read, enriching our sensibilities, fine-tuning our literary focus, rejuvenating our literary hearts and pervading our literary souls to the core!

And for my dear students, past and present, and lovable literary friends, my passionate plea would be to take off on a sweet, solemn, solo sabbatical of sorts, to some lonesome planet, with just you, your Hamlin and your cuppa! And once there, and once when you’re rest assured you’ve got this awesome threesome, just go ahead, and read Hamlin’s Crumbling Idols: Twelve Essays on Art, Dealing Chiefly with Literature, Painting and the Drama.

I assure you such unalloyed, unadulterated joy oozing and welling up from within you through every word and every line, every page and every stage of this Hamlin-delight!

I’m just giving y’all excerpts that I so loved reading from off Hamlin’s!

Here goes Garland – Hamlin Garland, ladies and gentlemen!

It is only to the superficial observer that this country seems colorless and dull; to the veritist it is full of burning interest, greatest possibilities. I instance these localities because I know something special about them;

And yet how few writers of national reputation this eventful centurylong march of civilization has produced!

We have had the figures, the dates, the bare history, the dime-novel statement of pioneer life, but how few real novels ! How few accurate studies of speech and life!

The causes of it, as I have indicated, are twofold: first, lack of a market, and, second lack of perception. This lack of perception of the art-possibilities of common American life has been due to several causes. 

Hard life, toil, lack of leisure, have deadened and calloused the perceiving mind, making life hard, dull, and uninteresting. But, beyond this, the right perception has been lacking on the part of instructors and critics. Everything has really tended to repress or distort the art-feeling of the young man or woman. They have been taught to imitate, not to create.

But at last conditions are changing. All over the West young people are coming on who see that every literature in the past was at its best creative and not imitative. Here and there a paper or magazine lends itself to the work of encouraging the young writer in original work. 

Hamlin continues...

images: amazondotcom, Goscinny & Uderzo’s Obelix with this blogger's rehash on 'em!