The Beat Generation 1950s America

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The Beat Generation1950s America

• Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and friends

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Allen Ginsberg 1926-1997Paterson, NJ

• Father, Louis, was a high school teacher and
  published poet- his poetry was very traditional
  and classical
• Mother, Naomi, was a radical communist, nudist
  and was mentally unstable- getting worse as she
  got older- hugely influential in his life-
  Russian immigrant
• Ginsberg attended Columbia University in the
  1940s- studied labor law 1st- was kicked out of
  school for writing obscenities in the dust on the
  window sill of his dorm room- eventually was
  reinstated and graduated in 1948

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More Ginsberg

• Stayed in NYC until 1953 until he went to San
  Francisco in 1953- here is where the beat
  generation world begin
• Ginsbergs literary career really began in 1955
  with the reading of the poem Howl (more on this
  in a minute)
• Ginsberg became the unofficial spokesperson for
  the beat generation

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A little more Ginsberg..

• The beat generation were young, free-spirited,
  rebellious, and weirdly mystical
• These guys were directly responsible for the
  social revolution America saw in the 1960s
• Ginsberg began a relationship with Peter Orlovsky
  in the 1960s that lasted until his death-
  Ginsberg was openly homosexual in the 1950s!
  GASP! technically it was illegal to be
  homosexual in the 50s
• Ginsberg believed that the US political system
  was oppressive and was concerned more with
  fundamentalist morality than public order

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That radical Ginsberg

• Ginsberg was held fast to his political beliefs
  and was not afraid to speak about unpopular
  things
• He was against nuclear war, the Korean and
  Vietnam Wars, the FBI had an extensive file on
  him, he believed passionately that racism was
  wrong and that our environment was precious- Go
  Ginsberg!!- but he also believed that political
  protests did not have to be hateful and that
  self-revelations did not have to be shameful
  (wow!)

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Ok- heres the Ginsberg as a poet info

• By giving a reading of the poem Howl in 1956-
  Ginsberg changed the face of American culture and
  art
• Mostly he concerned himself in all his poetry
  with denouncing what he saw as wrong with America
• People in the 1950s really understood this
  because many of them had been to a war and come
  home changed in many ways

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The poetry

• Ginsberg was STRONGLY influenced by Walt Whitman
  (another really talented gay NJ poet!) and
  William Blake (a really cool old English guy)
• Ginsberg wrote long poetry about journeys and he
  also felt that song was tremendously important
• Poems were humorous- the contained exploits of
  his private life, travels, sexual history,
  experiments with drugs, Buddhism, and mourning
  for his parents

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The last poetry slide (for now)

• Ginsberg was TOTALLY into live poetry readings-
  he thought the oral tradition in poetry was
  without equal (really, who doesnt???)
• He was VERY uninhibited in his readings, often
  appearing naked or stripping while he read his
  poems, he was extemporaneous, and STRONGLY
  encouraged his audience to participate
• He changed poetry reading into a communal
  occasion- the forerunner to poetry slams that we
  have today (in way cooler places like colleges
  and bigger cities and on MTV)