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Beat Ecopoetry and Prose in Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Publications

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Beat Ecopoetry and Prose in Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Publications UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Sustainable Gardens of the Mind: Beat Ecopoetry and Prose in Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Publications A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy in English by Susan Elizabeth Lewak 2014 © Copyright by Susan Elizabeth Lewak 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Sustainable Gardens of the Mind: Beat Ecopoetry and Prose in Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Publications By Susan Elizabeth Lewak Doctor of Philosophy in English University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Michael A. North, Chair Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth publications (The Whole Earth Catalog, The Supplement to the Whole Earth Catalog, CoEvolution Quarterly, The Whole Earth Review, and Whole Earth) were well known not only for showcasing alternative approaches to technology, the environment, and Eastern mysticism, but also for their tendency to juxtapose radical and seemingly contradictory subjects in an “open form” format. They have also been the focus of notable works of scholarship in the social sciences. Areas of exploration include their relationship to the development of the personal computer, the environmental movement and alternative technology, the alternative West Coast publishing industry, Space Colonies, and Nanotechnology. What is perhaps less well known is Brand’s interest in the Beat poetry of Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Robert Creeley, David Meltzer, and Peter Orlovsky beginning with CoEvolution Quarterly in 1974. Brand’s decision to include ecologically based free-verse Beat poems is also indicative of ii a particular way of seeing science and technology. The term “coevolution” itself is biological in origin and refers to the evolutionary relationship between predator and prey: a lizard may turn green to fade into the grass, but an eagle, with its highly developed vision, will be able to spot the lizard hiding among the green blades. Brand thus used the term “coevolution” as Edward Said used the musical term contrapuntal: the meeting of opposites or conflicting sources in either a contrived or forced juxtaposition that offers the potential for new meaning and understanding. Brand’s decision to incorporate the humanities into his ecologically based publications reflected a paradigm shift in his vision of science and technology. In other words, poetry renders tools and technology more humane and sustainable as they all “coevolve” with Eastern mysticism in an “open form” or contrapuntal context, leading to (eco) consciousness expansion. In contrast to the notion that there is an inherent contradiction between poetry and technology within the realm of ecocriticism, or that the humanities lack relevance to the environmental debate, Brand’s Whole Earth publications provide one historic model for the “coevolution” of literature, science, and the environment. iii The dissertation of Susan Elizabeth Lewak is approved. Ali Behdad Andrea Loselle Michael A. North, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of the Dissertation: ii Acknowledgements: vi Vita: viii Introduction: 1 Chapter 1: Zen and the Art of CoEvolution Maintenance 44 Chapter 2: The Essentials of CoEvolution 82 Chapter 3: From Science to Poetry and From Poetry to Science 112 Conclusion: 146 Works Cited: 153 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is as much a product of the many years I spent buried in a pile of Whole Earth publications as it is of the community of people who helped to dig me out of it. No amount of words can adequately express my gratitude to Professor Michael North of UCLA’s English department for his profound patience and remarkable insight. It is safe to say that the framework for little magazines, which originated during a conversation we had a few years ago, solidified a number of dangling thoughts in my mind, and I am exceptionally indebted to him for believing in my dissertation. I am also very grateful to Professor Ali Behdad, Chair of UCLA’s English department, for his persistent words of support, encouragement, and praise, particularly towards the end of this project. It made an enormous difference. Thanks as well to Andrea Loselle, Associate Professor in UCLA’s French department, for the time that she spent on this dissertation. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my late committee member, Professor Peter Kollock of UCLA’s sociology department. His work in Web 1.0 text-based virtual communities deeply influenced my understanding of how cyberspace functions. While my project shifted from where it was at the time of his death, his investment was nevertheless invaluable. I am equally indebted to a number of other individuals in UCLA’s English department. I must extend a note of gratitude to Professor Chris Mott, an outstanding TA supervisor, and someone who is generally revered among the graduate students. His encouragement, steadfast support, and guidance proved so critical that I am not certain I could have made it this far without it. In addition, Professor Felicity Nussbaum deserves credit for her role in enabling this dissertation to develop in its current form. Professors S. Dickey and Joe Dimuro also offered vital feedback on ecocriticism, the Beat generation, and Whole Earth that helped to clarify holes in the project. Finally, a big thank you to fellow graduate students who offered dissertation vi insight and advice over the years: Joyce Warren, Renee Hudson, Matt Dubord, Dave Shepard, Anne Stiles, and, Melanie Ho. I would also like to acknowledge Sam See who passed away in 2013. Sam always knew how to make me smile even in the worst moments, a rare gift from a talented individual. He will be sorely missed. I would also be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the terrific staff members who make UCLA’s English department so remarkable: CAO Caleb “Q,” I.T. Manager Bronson Tran, Grad Advisor, Mike Lambert, Accounting Specialist Nora Elias, English Reading Room Librarian Lynda Tolly, and Undergrad Advisors Janel Munguia, and Danielle Maris, whose investment and support over the years have proven their worth. In addition, I would also like to extend a special note for Jeanette Gilkison and Rick Fagin, whose management of the front office made all of our lives easier. I must also extend a few words of thanks to faculty outside of UCLA’s English department who (in their own ways) contributed to my ability to weave through the labyrinth: Professor Tim Morton (Rice University), Professor Don Miller (University of Washington), Professor Millie Kidd (Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles), Vicki McCargar, (Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles), Mar Elepano (USC Film School), and Professor Emeritus William Quillian (Mount Holyoke College). I would like to extend my gratitude as well to graduate students Ziad Abu-Rish (History department, UCLA), Betsy Hardi (Performance Studies, Texas A&M), and Kyle Oddis (English, Northeastern) for their contributions to this project. Finally, thanks to my parents Audrey and Norman Lewak, for their support of this project. While growing up in Berkeley, CA during the 1970’s, Whole Earth was a part of our vii lives through the related Whole Earth Access Store on 7th Street. Memories of my childhood trips to the store (which was always a bit of an adventure, offering unusual gadgets from the Catalogs, as well as our first computer, an Apple II) serve as a partial inspiration for this project. Finally, I couldn’t have made it this far without the encouragement of my husband Subhashis “Shish” Aikat, who stood by me through the years (and eventually became as engrossed in the pile of Whole Earth publications as I was). His background in engineering and technology, as well as his own memories of hippies trekking through India during his childhood there ,offered invaluable insight for this dissertation. This is for all of you. viii VITA 2014 Lecturer, Digital Humanities, Master of Arts Program in the Humanities, Mt. St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles 2013 Outstanding Teaching Recognition: Student Evaluation Scores English Dept., UCLA 2012-2013 Teaching Assistant, Department of English, UCLA 2008-2009 2002-2005 2009 Teaching Excellence Award, English Dept., UCLA 2009 Outstanding Teaching Recognition: Student Evaluation Scores English Dept., UCLA 2002 M.A., English Literature CSU-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 1996 M.A., Visual Anthropology USC Los Angeles, CA 1987 B.A., English Literature Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Massachusetts 1987 Minnie Ryan Dwight Journalism Award cum laude Phi Beta Kappa Department of English Mount Holyoke College Related Conference Presentations: May 2014 “Back to the Future: 1950s American poets in Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth publications of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.” Topic Area: At the Edge of the Postmodern? American Poetry in the 1950s, The Charles Olson Society. 25th Annual Conference, American Literature Association, Washington D.C., May 2014. ix May 2014 “Beyond Moloch: Soft-Technology and Beat Ecopoetry in Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Publications.” Southern California Ecocritical Theory Symposium: The Future of Ecocritical Theory. UC Irvine, May 2014. Feb. 2014 “Karma Bums: Beat poetry and prose in Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth publications.” Topic Area: Beats and Counterculture. 35th annual Southwest Popular Culture and American Culture Associations conference, Albuquerque, NM. Sept. 2013 “Ecologically Raw: American Poetry and Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Publications.” Ecology and the Environmental
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