• 비교문화연구
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• 제20권
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• pp.347-370
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• 2010

In the latter part of the $20^{th}$ century, the road in American culture has been identified with independence, mobility, and speed, but in his seminal poem, "Song of the Open Road," Walt Whitman characterized road journeys as simultaneously physical, intellectual, and spiritual, a view embraced by Vincent Van Gogh whose Terrace of a Caf? at Night illustrates in paint what Whitman said in words. Others such as Jack Kerouac in On the Road followed in Whitman's tradition, one taken up even more recently by David Lynch, whose films are best known for a condemnation of American suburban life, but whose Straight Story evokes a profound spirituality as part of the road. This essay explores spirituality in these various texts.