Beat Movement
The "Beat Movement" in modern literature has
become an important
period in the history of literature and society in
America. Incorporating
influences such as jazz, art, literature, philosophy
and religion, the beat
writers created a new and prophetic vision of modern
life and changed the way a
generation of people sees the world. That
generation is mow aging and its
representative voices are becoming lost to
eternity, but the message is alive
and well. The Beats have forever altered
the nature of American consciousness.
The Beat Generation of writers
offered the world a new attitude. They brought to
society a consciousness of
life worth living. They offered a method of escape
from the stultifying,
unimaginative world we live in, through the exploration of
one's intellect.
Beat has had many different contemporary implications in music,
poetry and
literature. Literature has been liberated considerably. The poetic
form has
been changed to inaugurate a new poetic form, an American form.
"There was
less emphasis on tradition and more emphasis on the individual
talent.
(www.rohan.sdsu.edu)" One of the most important contributions to
contemporary
verse was to take poetry out of the classrooms and into
non-academic
setting—coffee houses, jazz clubs, large public auditoriums and
even athletic
stadiums. Poetry is more popular and more read than anytime in
history, not
only spoken poetry but also sung poetry of a high order. "The
literature,
coordinated by pop music, with a way of dressing, with a way of
life, it
something that has influenced the youth of the world not only in
Western
countries but Eastern countries as well. (www.charm.net)" Music has
been
influenced greatly by Beat writing. The lyrics of many great songs
have
forever been changed by the writing of the Beat Generation. "Bob
Dylan's
favorite poet was Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg became one of Dylan's
greatest
friends. He worked on many projects with Dylan...The band Rage
Against the
Machine has many of Ginsberg's poems and words show up in
their songs. For
instance the song 'Bulls on Parade' includes Ginsberg 'Hadda
Been Playing on the
Jukebox' (www.charm.net)" Generation X writers are
compared to the Beat
writers. Many people say that the "generation coming to
age has the
potential to bring a new vision to society. The Beats thumbed
their noses at the
corporate world just like Generation X does today.
(www.altx.com/io/beatgeneration.html)"
Many writers of Generation X have
been influenced by the writing like Andy
Clausen, Eliot Katz, Geoffrey
Manough and Ed Sanders. There are many writers
that have been influenced but
have not been included in the Generation X
section. These writers took up the
flame of the Beat flavor, keeping it strong.
James Wright was one of the
writers that kept the flame going. "He was much
admired poet of his
generation...(www.rohan.sdsu.edu)" His works have a
"sense of Midwestern
American bleakness...(www.rohan.sdsu)" One of his
poems goes like this "My
bones turn to dark emeralds Your hands turn yellow
in the ruins of the sun
Suddenly I realize That if I stepped out of my body I
would break Into
blossom (www.rohan.sdsu.edu)" Another such writer with
Beat flavor would
be Adrienne Rich. "Rich's work established the importance
of gender in
shaping a poetic consciousness and she became a mentor to thousands
of women,
enabling them to 'speak the unspeakable,' to authenticate their
unique
experience of reality. (www.rohan.sdsu.edu)" Beat writing has made a
great
impact on the writing of today's generation. It has allowed people to
be more
open with themselves and the people that are reading their works. It
is also
allowed people to be more open minded to new ideas that these works
brought to
the surface for everybody to see. Where early writing was stiff,
beat writing
allowed for the writing to come after it to beat to a different
drummer. Beat
writing has expanded the world of literature, poetry and music
to a higher level
for people to
enjoy.
Bibliography
www.charm.net/~brooklyn/Topics/BeatGen.html
www.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/index.html
www.rohan.sdsu.edu