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| Hey guys we were wondering some things about beat poetry 1) what exactly is it? is it the same as rap? 2) where did it come from? 2B) what did it evolve from? 3) if you study "beat poetry" than what is it exactly what you're studying? is it the actual poetry or the evolution? or is it something else? 4) is it a course on its own in school or does it belong to ..."english" or something? any kind of information would be nice!!!! thanks in advance |
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| "Beat" poetry is a term referring to certain post-World War II writers, including most prominently Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, and William Burroughs. The term was thought to have originated with Herbert Huncke, in NYC, who used the term to refer to people who were "dead-beat" or "beat-up" by society. It was popularized by William Burroughs and later by Jack Kerouac. It refers to writers who were disillusioned with society in the 1950s, who believed strongly in personal freedom and living for one's self. It is very different from rap, which refers merely to rhyming poetry/songs and came about in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Rap music developed from literary "street fights" wherein rappers were try to best each other in rap poetry as an alternative to fighting. Rap does not embody a philosophy of life; it is a genre of music, not a movement. Beat literature was most popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Famous works of Beat literature include Ginsberg's poem "Howl", Kerouac's novel "On the Road", and Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." The Beats were into drugs, hitchhiking, alcohol, homosexuality, and freedom, though not always in that order. They enjoyed experimentation in general and liked to live outside the bounds of society. It grew from a dissatisfaction with the conservative society of the 1950s and the disillusionment with society after the War. The Beats were lost, trying to find themselves in the great expanse of America. In many ways, the movement (which was unstructured, unlike the Harlem Renaissance) was about celebrating America at its rawest. To study beat poetry is to study the underside of 1950s American youth. It was a time of rebellion against conformity and revelling in one's own vitality. The three works I mentioned above are as "seminal" as any works of Beat literature. Burroughs's novel "Naked Lunch" is also an important text. One studies a literary movement for a variety of reasons, but what I enjoy about the Beats is learning about how they view America and the role of the individual in it. They fought against "The Man" (Kesey called it "the Combine") which tried to repress the individual in favor of society. It is probably most closely related conceptually to jazz music. It is a literary movement, like the Harlem Renaissance, the ex-pats, the Existentialists, the post-moderns, etc.. Any literary grouping that seems to have its own personality and explores a philosophy from various angles can, I suppose, be considered a "movement" if it is widespread enough. It was fairly short-lived and short-sighted (if I may be so bold), but it certainly had a strong impact. Ayn Rand's philosophy of individualism (slightly earlier, chronologically) contains some elements of Beat lit, but without the wildness, exhilaration, recklessness, and experimentation that identifies the Beat writers. Think of the Beats as early hippies. (Many scholars believe their literary experimentation and philosophy of life led directly to the hippie movement of the 1960s.) Many courses study Beat literature in college, though it's a bit too unrestricted in content (read: too much drugs and sex) for many high schools, though some of the more important works (see Kerouac, Kesey, and Ginsberg above, but generally not Burroughs) are occasionally read in high schools. I hope this helps! |
| QUOTE (Dona @ Jun 24 2009, 10:07 AM) |
| Thanks guys sooo much because I was just gonna ask the same question. |