"The story of "hip" is the story of America."
John Leland in his 2005 work Hip: The History asserts that being “hip” is to break away from tradition by straddling the new and the old. Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau and Japan illustrates this conflict of balancing both society and the individual. Twain does so with a story of a young boy’s escape from tradition. Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman “set down the intellectual framework for hip” in their work by “exploring the full dimensions of the paradox,” (Leland). Twain and many others answer their calls for hip by claiming that life on the river is the straddle, as it embraces simultaneously the new and old. Read exerpts of Leland's essay below to introduce yourself to this wide topic. Think about the guiding questions and interpreation.
What is "hip"? Many people have heard of the term "hip" or "hipster" as being someone who is ahead of the time. In reality, hipsters develop new ideas from existing ones, and can be described as innovators and non-conformists. Being "hip" is balancing these new and preexisting ideas. Most Americans envision themselves as doing such, for being “hip” is enables one to juggle the many aspects of the American experience.
"America offered the promise of reinvention…a chance to create a new identity.…the nation’s principal fantasy...you can create yourself anew."
"...a stage for transformation…...fluidity of identity"
"Hip’s evolution begins with individuals breaking this bond."
"America’s shadow culture: a cast unorganized array of discrete individuals who live and think differently from the mainstream but who participate in its daily activities. It holds exactly the opposite prejudices of the dominant culture. This allows hip to critique the mainstream from without as well as within."
"Within hip’s juggernaut is a quest for the real, a belief that enlightenment involves stripping away sophistication."
America, a place of "unlimited" possibilities, can be cassified as free because the people have the freedom to chose their own unique identies when ever they choose.
Leland claims that every American can attain a new identity, do you agree?
This extablishes the core conflict of America: the individual vs. society. To become "yourslef", Leland says you muct break away from society. Does this cause isolation from society?
The "hipster" is not fully diconected to soicety: floating inbetween their own idenity and society. This allows them to "critique the mainstream from without as well as within."
Hipsters are in search for what they consider to be "the truth", for they find society to be fake and complicated. Do you ever feel the need to run away from society to escape this feeling?
Examine the first set of pieces below.
This watercolor by artist Agnes Cecil illustrates the concept of "hip" with the hair being stretched in two different directions: society and the individual. The use of color in the hair in contrast to that of the body shows her unique identity through straddling society and the individual.
This watercolor, also by Agnes Cecil, demonstrates the same concept, yet extends it. A new person is emerging from the "torn person." This recurrence of a new identity from being in to what Leland reffers to as the "straddle" is the next idea that will be explored in this gallery.
The Museum’s new interpretation:
Before you move on to the "Emerson" exhibit of this gallery, note that the American experience is the quest for the "hip" and that the "hip" is the "new" and "old" individual. At first the museum noted the pull of society and the individual, as the individual wants to break away from the old society and become new. In order to do so, one must take from the old. This constant cycle is like a river: always the same and yet different. This theme appears in Waldo Emerson's work.
The "Hip"In The American Experience
-John Leland
