beat-generation

TheBeatGenerationLiketheLostGenerationofthe1920s,theAmericanBeatGenerationofthe1950snamesbothaliterarycurrentandabroaderculturalphenomenonormood.RejectingtheconformismandstressonnormalityoftheTrumanandEisenhoweryears,theBeatsemphasizedanopennesstovarietiesofexperiencebeyondthelimitsofmiddle-classsociety;theyexploredtheculturalundergroundofbebopjazz(比博普爵士乐)druguse,sexuality,andnon-Westernreligions.TheBeatGeneration:Why?TheCounterCulturalChainofInfluence!WilliamWordsworth,aRomanticpoetJackKerouacBobDylanTheBeatswerepartofa“countercultural”movement.ThismeansthatthemembersoftheBeatGenerationsharedideasandvaluesthatdidnotcoincidewithmainstreamsocialvalues.EarliercounterculturessuchastheEuropeanRomanticsandBohemiansinfluencedtheBeatGeneration,justastheBeatswouldinfluencetheHippiesintheUnitedStates.TheBeatGeneration:When?TheNewYorkBeatsmetandwrotetheirmostproductiveworkinthelate1940sand1950s.Theywererespondingtoanumberofculturaleventsandattitudes,themostnotablebeingWorldWarII,andtheultra-conservativemiddleclass.1950sNYCNuclearFamily1950sTechnology!TheBeatGeneration:Who?PicturedfromlefttorightisLucienCarr,JackKerouac,AllenGinsberg,andWilliamBurroughs.Kerouac,Ginsberg,andBurroughsaretheprincipalliteraryfiguresoftheNewYorkBeatMovement.TheBeatGeneration:Where?GreenwichVillage,NYCThefoundingmembersoftheBeatGenerationmetinNewYorkCity.KerouacandGinsbergbothattendedColumbiaUniversityinNewYork,andBurroughs(theeldestofthethree)wasaHarvardgraduate.TheoriginalBeatGenerationwritersmetinNewYork:JackKerouac,AllenGinsberg,WilliamS.Burroughs,(in1948)andlater(in1950)GregoryCorso(theyaresometimescalledtheNewYorkBeatsthoughonlyCorsowasfromNewYork).Theterm”Beat”wasreportedlycoinedbyJackKerouac(1922-1969,American)inthelate1940’s.Ashesaid“Ah,thisisnothingbutabeatgeneration”fromaspecificconversationbetweenHolmes(1926-1988,American)andhim,thisgreatmovementinAmericanhistorycameintobeing.BeatHolmes’scelebratedarticleinlate1952intheNewYorkTimesMagazinecarriedtheheadlinetitle“ThisistheBeatGeneration”,thatcaughtthepubliceye.ButitbecamemorecommonataboutthetimethatwriterslikeAllenGinsberg(1926-1997,American)andLawrenceFerlinghetti(1919,American)werebeginningtogetnoticed.Beat,What?!?•Beingtired,“downandout”,oreventemporarilydefeatedUponfurtherexamination,JackKerouac(theunofficialspokesmanoftheBeats)addedothersometimesparadoxicalorironicmeanings:•Amusicalconnotation:asinbeing“onthebeat”.TheBeatGenerationwasinfluencedheavilybythepopularmusicofthetimebebop,andlaterJazz.•Aspiritualmeaning:“beatific”,whichisliterallyexperiencingorbestowingcelestialjoy,orresemblinganangelorasaint.BeatWritersTheBeatwritersemphasizedavisceral(出自内心深处的)engagementinworldlyexperiencescombinedwithaquestfordeeperspiritualunderstanding;manyofthemdevelopedastronginterestinBuddhism.BeatGenerationA.CharacteristicsofBeatliterature1.Kerouac'sconceptofbeata.beatasrhythmb.beatasbeingbrokendown,pushedtothemarginsofexistencec.beatasreligiousexperience,asbeatitudeEssentialsofSpontaneousProsea.attackedtheconceptofrevisionanddeniedtheartist'straditionalselectivityb.comparedthewritertoajazzsaxaphonistExplainingtheinfluenceofjazzandboponhiswork,Kerouacwrote:Yes,jazzandbop,inthesenseof,say,atenormandrawingabreathandblowingaphraseonhissaxaphone,tillherunsoutofbreath,andwhenhedoes,hissentence,hisstatement'sbeenmade...that'showIthereforeseparatemysentences,asbreathseparationsofthemind.RelationofBeatliteraturetopostwarAmericanvaluesa.seekstoretaintheabilitytofeelinnumbingtimesb.insistsonatranscendentsocialvisionc.stressesspiritualityinoppositiontomaterialism“Thevaluelessabyssofmodernlifeisunbearable.”--JohnClellonHolmes,“TheBeatGeneration”JackKerouacHewasbornJean-LouisKerouacin1922.HisparentswereFrenchCanadian,andconsequentlyyoungJacklearnedEnglishassecondlanguage.Atfour,hisbelovedbrotherGerarddiedofafever,andithadaprofoundimpactonJack.JackwasraisedinLowell,Massachusetts,andwasagiftedathleteasayouth,earninghimascholarshiptoColumbiaUniversity.JackKerouacAfterbeingdischargedfromtheNavy,JackroamedtheUnitedStatesandMexico,bycarandbuswhenpossible,butalsobyhitchhikingandasanillegalpassengerontrains.Itwastheseexperiences,aswellasafriendshipwithNealCassadythatwouldprovidethematerialforhismostfamousnovel,OnTheRoad.ThoughhecompletedOnTheRoadintwodrugandcoffeefueledweeksin1948,itwouldnotbepublisheduntil1957.CassadyandKerouacOnTheRoadOnTheRoadisthefirsttimeKerouac’suniquestyleisrecognizable.Thekindoffree-flowingstreamofconsciousnesswritinghepromotedwasidentifiedas“spontaneousprose”.Thiswasbasedaroundthetheoryoffirstthought=bestthought,andbecauseofthisphilosophy,Kerouacrarelyeditedhiswork.Heexpoundsonhiswritingtechniqueinotherworks,C.JackKerouac'sOntheRoad(1957)1.structureofthenarrative2.narrativestructureoffersrhetoricalalternativetopostwarcultureofconsensus3.themeofnovelisfreedom:Kerouac'swritingstylewasthevehicleforthisfreedom'sexpressionandvision(OmarSwartz,1999)JackKerouacAfterhebecamefamous,Kerouacbeganasharpdecline,bothinhisworkandpersonally.Hehadalwayshadadrinkingproblem,andintheyearsbeforehisd