Beat Generation

Click here for more information. Word done by Arrufat & Villalva

Beat Generation artists in front of City Lights Books store in San Francisco, 1963. From left:  Pat Cassidy, Philip Whalen, Robert Ronnie Branaman, Alan Russo, Ann Buchanan, Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti...

Hippie Movement

To read more about the subject, click here.

Work done by  Di Gregorio, Bleynat, Valenzuela.

Beat Generation in Literature, Flower Power and Counterculture

Work done by Espòsito, Pavilonis & Batiz

Follow the link:

http://prezi.com/xsmaxretutvg/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

The Beat Generation

Read more.

by Fabrizio & Krause


Older posts about the subject.

On the Road… with the British Library

A new exhibition started  at the British Library honouring a celebrated work by one of the finest authors of the ‘Beat Generation’, Jack Kerouac.

On the Road was written by Kerouac over a hectic three-week period in April 1951. Uniquely, Kerouac typed the manuscript on rolls of tracing paper, which he then taped together into a single scroll to avoid replacing paper at the end of the page and interrupting his creative flow.

It is this scroll – which measures an incredible 120 feet! – which will be on display at the British Library for the very first time in this country between October and the end of December.

The Library owns several works by and about Jack Kerouac, including a copy ofOn the Road. You can also find out more about the author, his life and work, and the history of the ‘Beat Generation’ of 1950′s American authors including William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, through one of our many literature databases onLibrary Catalogue Plus.

For further information about the exhibition, visit the British Library website here:

http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/kerouac/index.html

Young People as Agent of Change

During the '50s, everyone was still recovering  from the horrors of World War II. People from around the world idolized the Americans, who definitely prospered during this era. During the 1950s, youth became more self-aware, and they were determined to create their own styles, which the designers followed. Throughout the decade, the teenagers became a distinct group of society, which had never been done before. Young people gained much freedom, which was attributed by some to the lack of discipline after the war and the invention of Rock'n'Roll.

 Rock’n’Roll roots lay principally in Rhythm and Blues (R &B).  Blues, and rhythm and blues, were too adult, sexual, angry, and solely identified with black culture to be acceptable either emotionally or commercially without adaptation. Major record companies had for years been producing records for black audiences called "race records." The emergence of rock 'n' roll signified a slight weakening in resistance to black culture.  Rock 'n' roll was for and about adolescents. Its lyrics articulated teenage problems: school, cars, summer vacation, parents, and, most important, young love. Though rock has used a wide variety of instruments, its basic elements are one or several vocalists, heavily amplified electric guitars, bass and drums. Its melody, the lyrics and the harmony were simple. The greatest exponents were Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Billy Haley and the Comets, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Saturday nights were spent at local dances where teens jived to their favourite music. Adolescents gathered at coffee bars or diners and listen to jukeboxes while they smoked cigarettes. In America, that concern was conveyed even in youth cultural artifacts like comic books.

At the turn of the decade Detroit (where General Motors is settled) became an important centre for black singers, and a certain type of sound known as “Motown” (motor town), was named Motown Records. One of the most popular exponents of this style was Diana Ross and the Supremes.

In the 1960s music mirrored the tensions of the Vietnam War era and played an important role in American culture. The verbal content of rock songs turned toward rebellion, social protest, sex, and, increasingly, drugs. From this decade it was simply called "rock music", and it was no longer just for dancing.

Rock music surged to popularity in 1962 with the emergence of the Beatles, a group of four long-haired lads from Liverpool, England. They were initially acclaimed for their energy and appealing individual personalities rather than for any innovations in their music, which was derived from Berry and Presley. They produced a boom which was called “British invasion”. Their popularity inevitably produced other groups with unusual names. One of the most important of these was the Rolling Stones , whose music derived from the black blues tradition.  An important transformation of rock occurred in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival when Bob Dylan, noted as a composer and writer of poetic folk songs and songs of social protest appeared on stage, playing electric guitar and backed by an electrified rock band. In 1967 the Beatles again made history with their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which included drug-oriented songs. And from that year onward, the rock festival was regarded as the ideal context in which to hear rock music, and thousands of fans attended. The most successful and peaceful rock festival, Woodstock, was held near New York, in August, 1969. Some other performers of this decade were Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page.

The '60s marked an era of teenagers, as they truly became a distinct part of North American culture, the baby-boomers. A baby-boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World-War II baby boom (a peak in birth rate in U.S.) and who grew up during the `60s and `70s. They were widely associated with privilege, and as a group they were the healthiest, and wealthiest generation to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time. As these teens received more money, they had an easy time finding jobs. One important feature of Boomers was that they tended to think of themselves as a special generation and, furthermore, to define the world in terms of generations, which was a relatively new phenomenon.

 The '70s proved to be a drastic change in thoughts and beliefs of teenagers from the '60s. Many young people held pessimistic views of the world, and they felt very uncertain about what the future would hold. A turning point in rock music occurred in the mid-1970s in the form of punk rock, which was a response to the stagnation of the genre and a nihilistic political statement.  In Great Britain, Punk music was performed by the Sex Pistols and the Clash; punk also quickly became popular in the Unites States, played by the Ramones among other groups. Movies and television shows also had a great impact on the styles of young people in the 70’s. On the other hand, Saturday Night Fever made disco very popular and many teens copied the costume worn by John Travolta in the famous movie. The Bee Gees were part of this style.

Work done by Muratore and Funes 

Beat Generation and Hippie Movement Summary

Beat Generation : Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg.

Beat Generation refers to a group of American post World War II writers, that became prominence in the 1960´s.

They saw runaway capitalism as destructive to the human spirit and opposed to social equality. In addition to their disappointment with consumer culture, they were against the repressive generation of their parents.

By the time, the taboos against frank discussions of sexuality were seen as unhealthy and damaging to the mind.

According to Literature and Art the Beats stood in opposition to the clean and almost antiseptic formalism (as they used to name it) of the early twentieth century modernists.

They fashioned a literature that was more bold, courageous, straightforward and expressive than anything had come before.

Underground music styles like Jazz were especially evocative for Beat writers.

The word “Beat” was primarily used after World War II by Jazz musicians and workers, as a slang term meaning “Down and out” or “Poor and exhausted” . But Jack Kerouac twisted the meaning of the term, explaining that “Beat” means “Beatitude” not beat up, Beat generation writers also used the term in connection with music, Kerouac often said; “You feel this, you feel it in a beat, in jazz real cool jazz”.

Other central elements of Beat culture included, experimentation with drugs, alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in Eastern Religion and the rejection to materialism.

The Beat Generation was a Literature and Cultural movement and the best known writers were; Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, these authors are considered the producers of the best work of the time.

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was an American poet that opposed Militarism, Materialism and Sexual repression. Ginsberg is best known for his epic poem “Howl” where he severely denounced what he saw as the destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. Howl is one of the classic poems of this period and was dedicated to his friend Carl Solomon. As all of the controversial Beat Generation writings, the conservative people saw it as dirty, vulgar and with obscene language. It seemed especially outrageous or shocking in 1950´s America because it represent both heterosexual and homosexual sex, at a time when sodomy laws made homosexual acts a crime in every US state. 

He used phrases such as “fucked in the ass” “cocksucker” and “cunt” as part of the poem’s depiction of different aspects of American culture, he used sex to criticize the emptiness and constant hunger that could exist in the lives of Americans.Ginsberg’s willingness to talk about taboo subjects made him a controversial figure during the conservative 1950´s and a significant figure in the 1960´s.According to his writing technique, he developed and individual style that was identifies as Ginsbergian. His choice to brake away from traditional poetic structure was fiercely criticized as chaotic and unpoetic, but for him it was an open excited expression of thoughts and feeling that were naturally poetic.

William Burroughs (1914 – 1997) was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. Much of his works are semi-autobiographical mainly drawn for his experience as a heroin addict. He write 18 novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collection of essays, but perhaps his best known novel in “Naked Lunch”, a work that along with the poem “Howl”, went to the court for being cases under sodomy laws. He was an analyst and a critic of the moral, politic and economic system of American Society.

His major works can be divided into four different periods:

-          Early Work (early 1950´s)

-          The cut-up period (mid 1950`s to mid 1960`s)

-          Experiment and Subversion (mid 1960`s to mid 1970`s)

-          The red night trilogy (mid 1970`s to mid 1980`s)

(The dates refer to the time of writing, not publication).

Drugs, homosexuality and death are the most common themes, along with Ginsberg helped made homosexuality cool and highbrow, providing a gay liberation.

Jack Kerouac (1922 – 1969) was an American novelist and poet. He is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as, Catholic Spirituality, Jazz, promiscuity, Buddhism, drugs, poverty and travel. Some critics have labeled his work as “slapdash” “grossly sentimental” and “immoral”.

He became an underground celebrity and with other beats, the progenitor of the Hippie Movement.

In 1969 at age of 47 Kerouac died from internal bleeding caused by cirrhosis, the result of a lifetime of heavy drinking.

Since his dead, his literary prestige has grown and several unseen work have been published, such as; “On the road” “Doctor SAX” “The Dharma bums” “ Mexico City Blues” “The Subterraneans” “Desolation Angels” and many others.

In the 1960´s elements of the expanding Beat movement were the legacy for Hippie Counterculture, which was a movement that arouse in the United States during the mid 1960´s and spread almost all over the world.

The Hippie culture spread worldwide through a fusion of Rock, Folk, Blues and Psychedelic Rock, it also found expression in Literature, dramatic arts, fashion, and visual arts including films, posters advertising rock concerts and album covers.

Hippies rejected established institutions, criticized middle class values, opposed nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War, embrace aspects of Eastern Philosophy and sexual liberation, they promote the used of many drugs, they create international communes or communities and firmly believe in Peace, Love and Personal Freedom.

The peace symbol was developed in the UK as a logo for the “Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament” and was adopedt by US Anti-War protestors during de 1960´s.

Hippies were often pacifist and participated in non-violent political demonstrations such as; Civil Right Movement, The Marches on Washington D.C, and Anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.

The degree of political involvement varied widely among Hippies, the Yippies were the most politically active Hippie sub-group.

In addition to the non.-violent political demonstrations, Hippie opposition to the Vietnam War including organizing political action groups to oppose the war, they refused to serve in the military and conducting “teach-ins” on college campuses, because that covered Vietnamese history and the political context of the war.

The Flower Power is a Slogan used by American counterculture as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. It was implanted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War.

The expression was first coined by the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965, as a means to transform the protest into peaceful affirmative representations.

Hippies included the symbol wearing clothes with many flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hairs and distributing flowers to the public, becoming known as flower children. The term later became a strong reference to the Hippie Movement.

 

The political ideals of the Hippies influenced other movements such as; Anarcho-Punk,

Rave Culture, Green Politics, Stoner Culture and The New Age.

Some of the most noticeable musicians and bands of the era were: Janis Joplin, Creedence, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and many others.

Text: Natalia Gatica

Link to  same topic in our blog:
http://profesoresyalumnosisfd97.blogspot.com/search/label/Beat%20Generation

The Beat Generation

The Beat Generation

The Beat Generation, also known as the Beat Movement were a group of American writers who emerged in the 1950’s.The most influential members were Neal Cassady, Gary Snyder, William Borroughs, the poet Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.

The phrase Beat Generation was invented by Jack Kerouac, the leader and spokesman of the Beat Generation. The phrase was introduced to the general public in 1952 when John Holmes, a friend of Kerouac wrote an article for the New York Times Magazine called `This is the Beat Generation´.

The underlying philosophy was Zen Buddhism, visionary enlightenment and Amerindian CultureThe Beat Generation rejected the prevailing American middle class values and the academic attitude to poetry, feeling that poetry should be brought to people.A common theme that linked the Beat Generation was the need for withdrawal and protest.The Beats sought immediate expression in multiple, intense experience and beatific illumination like that of some Eastern religions like Zen Buddhism.The major Beat´s writings were Jack Kerouac´s On the road, Allen Ginsberg´s Howl, and William Borroughs´ Naked Lunch

Dadaism and Surrealism had a direct impact on the Beats. Dadaism with its attack on the elitism of the high culture and the celebration of spontaneity. Surrealism with its focus on revelations from the subconscious.

Ginsberg said that some essential effects of the Beat Generation could be characterized in the following terms:

• Spiritual liberation, sexual liberation, women´s liberation.

• .Liberation of the word from censorship,

• .Decriminalization of marijuana and other drugs,

• .The evolution of rhythm and blues into rock and roll as a high art form,

• .The spread of ecological consciousness,the notion of Fresh Planet,

• .Opposition to the military-industrial machine civilization,

• .Return to an appreciation of idiosyncrasy as against state regimentation,

• .Attention to a second religiousness developing within an advanced civilization,

• .Respect for land, indigenous people and creatures.

To conclude, The Beat Generation influenced a lot of artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez ,Jim Morrison,etc. The Beat movement were followed by the hippies, an anti-war movement which led to the environmental movement, Deep Ecology and Earth First.

You tube: “Howl” part 1

“Howl” part 2

“Howl” part 3

Hippie movement (1960’s)

The Hippie movement appeared in the 60’s and it was related to their liberal attitude and lifestyle.

They questioned authority and traditional values and they did a cultural revolution.

The hippie culture did not want to conform to society and created their own world trying to escape from reality with drugs.

The hippie generation had influences on music, television and film. It made marks on practices, fashion, hairstyles, the arts, religion and meditation.

The hippies stood for peace, love and freedom and the only way to reached these was though love and tolerance.

It was important to bring virtue, humanity and brotherhood, so they approved the Civil Right movement and protested against Vietnam War.

They developed a close relationship to nature and concerned as environmental pollution, recycling and organic food.

The movement has peaked near the end of the 1960’s with Woodstock.

Woodstock

It was the most important music festival held in 1969 in White lake, New York. It had celebrated from August 15 to August 17 and there were 3 days of “Peace and Music”

That musical festival included different genres such as: Rock and folk, including blues-rock, folk rock, jazz fusion, Hard rock, Latin rock, and psychedelic rock styles.

At first organizers (Michael Lang, John P. Roberts, Joel Rosenman and Artie Kornfeld) decided to sell tickets, but a half million of people travelled to New York, the traffic was stuck and it was not enough secure and fence in the zone. So organisers decided that Woodstock would be free.

The field was covered in mud because of the raining weather, and the audience too. There were not enough bathrooms and comforts.

“Although the festival was remarkably peaceful given the number of people and the conditions involved, there were two recorded fatalities: one from what was believed to be a heroin overdose and another caused in an accident when a tractor ran over an attendee sleeping in a nearby hayfield. There also were two births recorded at the event (one in a car caught in traffic and another in a hospital after an airlift by helicopter) and four miscarriages” said the news.

Besides if we talk about liberal attitude, sex free and drugs in the 1960’s a medicine change the world.

Oral Contraceptives (the Pill) were allowed to be sold by FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

This medicine Helped empower woman to control her pregnancies and prevented illnesses (uterine and ovarian cancers).

Women were free to enjoy spontaneous sex without fear of pregnancy.

This medicine allowed women to decide when she got pregnant.

But when the Pill was introduced in 1960 only married women could buy it. In 1967 single women started to get this pill.

You tube: John Lennon “give a peace of chance” (interview)

Work prepared by Savoy and Bunym