SEWARD: What we can learn from Beat Generation in 21st century
Column: Exploring Humanity with Sam Seward
The Beat Generation: Once considered a menace to society, it is now remembered as one of the most famous writing eras in history, rivaling the Socrates School and Stratford-on-Odeon, among others.
It seems shocking to think that a group of "angelheaded hipsters … expelled from the academies," as Allen Ginsberg writes in "Howl," would be on the level of Plato or F. Scott Fitzgerald, but writers of this generation lit a fire under the contemporary literary scene, inspiring countless future authors with their revolutionary take on writing.
The group's ideology centered around several key ideals, namely a rejection of the heightened capitalism and materialism that had erupted post-World War II, championing of artistic expression and individualism, sexual and psychedelic experimentation and a "back-to-nature" approach, citing an appreciation of Buddhism and Indigenous traditions.
Furthermore, the writing style was free-flowing and expressionistic, hoping to recapture the avant-garde nature of big-beat jazz into the writing. While all of this was certainly revolutionary to middle-class America in the 1950s, in the modern day, many of their ideals seem stale and dated.
The sex and drugs, which were so revolutionary 70 years ago, now seem like a relic of forgotten days. And their revolution has faded with time, with numerous criticisms being levied against them. While the criticisms are certainly valid, the lessons from the Beats certainly cannot be ignored and should be taken to heart to lead a more inspired and individualistic life.
A quote by lesser-known Beat writer Gregory Corso demonstrates how the Beat Generation should not be classified as just Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. It also reflects the most common criticism of the generation.
"Three writers does not a generation make."
The fact is, the significant contributions that other Beat writers made have been overshadowed by these authors, and it limits the scope of anyone trying to get into or be inspired by these authors.
Realistically, no one with a passing interest in Beat literature would really bother to explore other alternatives if they dislike those three authors. With the advancements we have made toward equality in the years since their heyday, the words of the poets have become more dated by the day.
While there were some women and African-American writers who participated in the Beat Generation, many of them were middle-class white men who seemed worlds away from the racial and gender issues that ran rampant throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
In an analysis of "Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of On the Road (They're Not What You Think)" by John Leland, he said that "some of the racial sentimentality is appalling," which greatly understates the issue and completely neglects how Sal Paradise, the roman-a-clef of Kerouac in the novel, along with his compatriots, treat women and often cheat on their partners with reckless abandon. By all accounts, their views on life are reckless and borderline offensive to the naked eye.
It would seem that they cannot really offer us anything substantial due to these issues, and they should remain in the realms of the goateed and tattooed craft brewery hipster. Yet, despite all of these issues with the works, I also found myself enraptured with Leland's text, engaging with it in a way I had not done with a book in a while.
Sure, certain parts of it have aged terribly, and Kerouac certainly should not be idolized, at least in a moral sense. Yet, as said by Ginsberg, "Beat is a poetic conception, an attitude toward the world." Summarizing Beat culture by identifying the worst aspects of it is as dangerous as doing this action with any other culture or movement.
At the end of the day, the main focus of the Beats was on the rejection of modernity and the liberation of the individual, allowing someone to carve out a free space in an age of crushing conformity. Throughout time, there has always been a defining social trend that people of their day have clung to, whether it be the consumerism that the Beats rebelled against in the 1950s, the yuppies of the 1980s, or today, with numerous social trends popping out of seemingly nowhere.
More and more, we see people chasing any sort of trend they find in order to gain their "15 minutes of fame." While this should not be frowned upon and has its merits, conformity to a social belief has become more prevalent than ever as a result of this. In this climate, the lessons of the Beats ring truer than ever, and it should be our mission to modernize their words to find a true sense of identity.
While the Beats had plenty of issues, the one thing I truly admire about them is they found a true sense of self in how they sought to express it in any way they could.
Samuel Seward is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences, majoring in political science and minoring in English. His column, "Exploring Humanity with Sam Seward," runs on alternate Wednesdays.
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