Although I was a little confused at the beginning of the semester because Beat writers have the tendency to write obscurely, I was able to make connections to their messages with their behavior thanks to the class lectures. This is my review of the beats generation:
Kerouac is innovative in that he can write endlessly
without pausing which some view his book ON THE ROAD as a masterpiece because
of the never-ending expressions of run on sentences and no paragraph breaks
(try saying supercalafragalisticexpialadocious for several lines in a reading).
If I remember clearly, he used a scroll to avoid having to pause his thoughts.
How is this even writing? This is more typing and no writing! Regardless, I
think its brilliant! The fact that it cut time in half to produce makes it less
appealing but more genius. Kerouac, like many other beat writers use a lot of
recursion in their work to add emphasis to sex, drugs, and music with a whole
lot of madness and not enough time to do them. Music was the Beat Generation’s
inspiration that gave them conviction to stand out and stand tall against the censorship
of artistic expression.
The Beat Generation were an alienated artistic group
of writers that were shunned by mainstream society due to thinking outside the
box. Their writings reflect exemption from a world they did not connect with.
Their behavior was self-destructive; they lived to satisfy their desires and
were viewed as outlaws. Jazz music gave them a temporary mental escape. They
were controversial in their lifestyles and their art was rejected. Their view
of America was tainted because they understood it to be superficial and more self-destructive
than their own lifestyle.
The readings demonstrate a recycling of life through
renewal. This was made through connecting with nature and how vulnerable they
were to their desires. They traveled extensively celebrating their momentary
satisfactions. Their behavior was experimental and exploitative which I viewed
as egotistical and selfish. They were reckless and rebellious believing that
life is meant to be lived unrestrictedly.
I learned that the Beat Generation is a movement
that screams freedom. It is a movement that depicts an oppressed minority group
that wanted to express their art without censorship. They struggled for
independence wanting to write freely without having to be criticized or judged. They viewed conformity as a way to control society and tried to find a means of escape through people, drugs, and music.
They felt a strong
connection to Jazz music and viewed it as an expression of love reaching their
souls profoundly. I am currently taking a class on Jazz & Politics and understand
Jazz to be an expression of emotion; a cry (happy or sad) for social change. Because
prejudice and cruel disparagement were acceptable at the time, so was status
and category. The fact that there has been racial and gender inequality for
centuries provides evidence of social oppression and it is through music that
has proven effective in social change.
The music during that time was a result of the environment. Jazz bands were used and created as a form of expression that went beyond race as the World War I changed the economy, tyranny, and segregation. Social movement transformed Jazz because it no longer served as a hopeful resolution bringing us to other forms of musical expression. Jazz and the Beat Generation have similar experiences because it is through their art of expression that they try to expound their messages. It was a movement that transformed both music and literature becoming the backbone of influential expression of art. Jazz and the Beat Generation both serve as precursors to a movement that has shaped society creating a landmark of creative expression. I would like to learn more about the entire trials and tribulations that existed outside of the Beat Generation writings to understand more about society at that time and their perception of the Beat Generation in raw text; there is always two sides to every story!
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