The Beat Generation

The Beat Generation Study Guide

The Beginnings and meaning behind the “Beat Generation:”  The Beat Generation began in the early 1950’s with the establishment of a group of friends in New York City – Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs with the later acknowledgements of Neal Cassady and Gregory Corso.  The term “beat” was originally coined by Herbert Huncke in 1945 to describe the group of friends in a way that portrayed them as run down, or tired due to the disparaging time in which they lived. Kerouac then stated the phrase “beat generation” while conversing with writer John Clellon Holmes. Holmes later wrote an article for the New York Times which introduced the “beat generation” to the masses.  Kerouac also claimed the term “beat” referred to beatific, or pertaining to something divine or holy.  Their influences range from the poetry and mentorship of William Carlos Williams to Jazz music and Dadaism.

Who were the Beats?  The beats were a group of people set in the time of World War II who were discouraged by the mainstream of society and literature.  They were anti-establishment people who were intrigued by the underground “bohemian” lifestyle which involved free sex, drug usage and an overall disdain for the common lifestyle.  The original beat poets were a group of friends (Kerouac, Ginsburg, and Burroughs) who traveled between New York and San Francisco. The Original circle met at Columbia University and were considered anti- academic artists, but planted in a high academic environment. Much of the movement’s expansion was an extension of the core group as well as intermingling of the San Francisco Renaissance poets and the Black Mountain poets.

Characterization of Beats and Beat Poetry:  Beatniks were a stereotyped version of the beat poet who were said to dressed in black, wear berets, and have goatees as well as played the bongos. The stereotypical “beatnik” was a trend caused by the beats but not related to the actual movement of the artists.  Beat poetry and literature was highly influenced by Jazz music. It was noted to have a rhythm about it that was reminiscent of the “bebop” style of jazz music. Kerouac himself claimed to have developed a technique called “spontaneous prose,” which evolved from the improvisational jazz music.  The beats encouraged spontaneity as well as open-form composition which consisted of the writer following the words and meaning behind the poem and ignoring much of the usages of form, such as meter or rhyme. They believed the worth of the poem did not rely on formal aspects but what was being said.  Much of beat poetry consists of the obscene and ultra real aspects of everyday life. Both Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch fueled an obscenity trial which caused a great deal of controversy about the definition of “obscene” in literature. The beats were very influential in breaking the codes of obscenity in literature, fueling the path for many more controversial, yet highly valuable works that proceeded their literature.

Influential Works by Beat Poets/ Writers:  Howl and Other Poems By Allen Ginsburg  Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs  On the Road by Jack Kerouac  Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac  Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti  Junky by William S. Burroughs  Go by John Clellon Holmes  The First Third by Neal Cassady  The New American Poetry 1945-1960 ed. by Donald Allen

Famous Beats (amongst many others):  Jack Kerouac  Allen Ginsberg  William S. Burroughs  Neal Cassady  Gregory Corso  Lawrence Ferlinghetti  Gary Snyder  Michael Mcclure  Philip Whalen  Lew Welch  Diana DiPrima  Bob Kaufman  Ed Sanders  John Clellon Holmes  Anne Waldman  Lucien Carr Bibliography

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Ginsburg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. San Franciso: City Light Books, 1956.

Holmes, John Clellon. “This is the Beat Generation.” Literary Kicks. 2007.

Kerouac, Jack. On The Road. New York. Penguin: 1976.

Knight, Arthur, and Kit Knight. The Beat Diary. California, PA: Arthur and Kit Knight, 1977.

McDarrah, Fred And Gloria. Beat Generation: Glory Days in Greenwich Village. New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1996.

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