Essays on Beat Generation

Ideology in Allen Ginsberg’s “America” and “Sunflower Sutra”

Ideology is a very important topic as it relates to literature. Literature is one of the primary methods in which people that perhaps are not within the mainstream of culture, politics and society employ to question hegemonic power structures. Dominant power structures are often posed primarily as the synthesis of modernity, objective reality, logocentrism, patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism, which are often cited in shorthand as “imperialism.” The United States, after the Second World War the period in which Allen Ginsberg and the other beat generation writers were most active was arguably the point in world history in which ...

Every literary epoch has its own features. However, they have some common and different characteristics. Romanticism and Beat Generation are two different generations and the brightest representatives are William Blake and Jack Kerouac. It is important to look at both literary directions in order to understand the authors who belonged to these movements. Romanticism was an artistic development that cleared through practically every nation of Europe, the United States, and Latin America that kept going from around 1750 to 1870. Nonetheless, the Romantic Movement did not achieve France until the1820's. Sentimentalism's crucial soul was one of rebellion against a ...

‘This is the Beat Generation’ by J.C.Holmes is the first literary article ( was published in New York Times in 1952) that coined the phrase “Beat generation” for the hippies and yippies in the American society. The entire generation is remarked as the post-war drunk generation of young people who developed a sort of nudity in their mental and spiritual contexts to crave and demonstrate the newly defined version of freedom (Holmes 232). Their level of distrust and distress were augmented by the war scenarios and dwindling national economy. Their lifestyle was generally knitted around beachheads and planned as per ...

The Beat movement that was formed in the late 1940s in the United States and has gained acknowledgement in the 1950s is one of the most important and well-known literary trends that have been in the 20th century in the United States. Modern literary critics consider the beat generation in various guises and forms: as writers existentialists, immoral persons, romantic, apolitical people and bohemians; the most accurate, according to one of the researchers, is to consider the Beat Generation as a motto or symbol of the revolution of American morals. This literary trend and the three most famous representative ...

[Date (January 1, 2014)]

In the United States, freedom of self-expression budded countless of groups with powerful belief systems. During the 1950s, a gathering of free-spirited literary writers incited a cultural phenomenon dubbed as the ‘Beat Generation.’ The prominent figures behind this movement were Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac. Together, they advocated the use of fresh writing styles and abandoned the standardized rules followed by the many authors of their day. The group retaliated to the restrictions and introduced a more ‘upbeat’ image, not only with literature, but in association with every aspect of art. It was a period of reformation ...

The beats generation represents a time when a group of famous writers were highlighted for their work. The writers represented a time after the Second World War and showcased the issues that affected society at the time (Docherty, Brian, 84). The 1950s was a time that was coupled with a lot of cultural, economic and political issues. The writers, who were American, wrote about such issues in an effort to condemn and educate about them. One such writer is Allen Ginsberg. He was born in Jersey in 1936 and was raised by an English teacher who influenced his background that led to his ...

Introduction

Easy Rider is one of the hallmark films of Hollywood. It defines a cultural period as this important film established filmmaking styles and attitudes. Aside from its cinematography, it also launched a guerilla style of independent filmmaking with very controlled and smooth studio film cinematography. Principally, this film featured a very remarkable soundtrack. Easy Rider was one of the first films that used the popular music during that period. The film also featured musicians such as Steppenwolf, The Byrds and Jimi Hendrix. The rock and roll background gave a more enriched narration and storytelling. The musical pieces featured by the film also made ...

One of the most important novels in 20th century American history, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road is an influential novel about the need to discover one’s meaning in life, and often acts as the thesis for the Beat movement of the 50s and 60s. The novel follows Sal Paradise, a stand in for Kerouac, and his free-wheeling friend Dean Moriarty as they wander and hitchhike across the United States, searching desperately for belonging and a newfound sense of purpose in Cold-War America. This book provides an interesting portrait of 1950s America and the anxieties of its youth, showing the ...

Abstract

The society is continually experiencing emergence and development of new cultures and subcultures. New cultures mostly develop from the popular culture as some individuals embrace new perspectives regarding common beliefs and values. Cultural elements present means of expression and influential habits that individuals of a particular group or belief identify with. Various cultures and subcultures are presently identifiable in the present day social media. One of such subcultures common in the contemporary social media includes the American hipster culture. The paper focuses on this culture by evaluating it from diverse perspectives. This includes providing a background of the development of the ...