Self-realization Narrative: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’

Abstract

This study is to explore the American ideological values in relation to individual, universal and divine self. The study gives an insight of the mystical trends in the 19th century America. The research method applies thematic analysis and utilizes Fairclough’s threedimensional model (1989) as data analyzing tool to analyse Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’. The poem has been analyzed by considering Textual, Discursive and Societal levels of discourse provided by Fairclough’s three-dimensional model. The findings declare that American ideological values; freedom, equality and unity lay a foundation to develop and understand the American sense of self. The research will enable the readers to understand the West’s idea of spirituality or mysticism through the lens of American national poet, Walt Whitman