Essay Term 1:
The Beat Generation
A Subculture Analysed
“The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people of all different nationalities who came to the conclusion that society sucked.” Amiri Baraka (The Source, 1999)
Introduction
In a hegemonic culture, subcultures are constantly resisting systems of beliefs imposed on society creating a constant struggle for hegemony (University of Washington, https://faculty.washington.edu/mlg/courses/definitions/hegemony.html, no date). This constant struggle with groups of belief that fall outside the spectrum of mainstream society has often been associated with youth culture. One of the first popular expressions of this in the 20th century is found in a group of American young writers from the 1940s that paved the way for many subcultures to succeed them: The Beat Generation. Subcultures are manifested in the form of class struggle. A cultural group, within a larger culture that has beliefs and meanings that are at variance with those of the …show more content…
The Beat Generation emerged after World War II in the mid-to-late 40s. Social unrest in America after the war led to a population that was split between the normal middle-class majority and a deviant minority of youthful rebels (Russell, 2002). Three of those voices of dissent were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. After meeting at Columbia University through their mutual friend Lucien Carr in 1944, it became clear that the three of them shared not only great intelligence and a passion for writing but also an opposition to American authority. The origins of the Beat Generation can be traced back to the lives of three individuals. Middle class, white men (Johnson and Grace, 2002). Later their circle expanded and developed to include many more diverse characters, but the foundations were laid by very
The Beat Generation
A Subculture Analysed
“The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people of all different nationalities who came to the conclusion that society sucked.” Amiri Baraka (The Source, 1999)
Introduction
In a hegemonic culture, subcultures are constantly resisting systems of beliefs imposed on society creating a constant struggle for hegemony (University of Washington, https://faculty.washington.edu/mlg/courses/definitions/hegemony.html, no date). This constant struggle with groups of belief that fall outside the spectrum of mainstream society has often been associated with youth culture. One of the first popular expressions of this in the 20th century is found in a group of American young writers from the 1940s that paved the way for many subcultures to succeed them: The Beat Generation. Subcultures are manifested in the form of class struggle. A cultural group, within a larger culture that has beliefs and meanings that are at variance with those of the …show more content…
The Beat Generation emerged after World War II in the mid-to-late 40s. Social unrest in America after the war led to a population that was split between the normal middle-class majority and a deviant minority of youthful rebels (Russell, 2002). Three of those voices of dissent were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. After meeting at Columbia University through their mutual friend Lucien Carr in 1944, it became clear that the three of them shared not only great intelligence and a passion for writing but also an opposition to American authority. The origins of the Beat Generation can be traced back to the lives of three individuals. Middle class, white men (Johnson and Grace, 2002). Later their circle expanded and developed to include many more diverse characters, but the foundations were laid by very