The two books that I have read so far have not been studies, non-fiction, or even articles on the Beat Movement; rather they have been poems and stories of lives, adventures, opinions, and inspiring, impressive situations. I have read
Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg and
On the Road: the Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac. In
Howl, I learned about the connection between the beat movement and religion- more specifically Hinduism and Buddhism- through beautiful poems about sunflowers and sunny days. I learned about daily activities, opinions on current events, reactions to the current culture, and wild adventures too controversial to put into this blog post. In
On the Road I learned about the beat movements inspiration fueled by a thirst for adventure, sensory pleasure, extremes, and freedom. I learned about the delicate respect for nature that Jack Kerouac, as a front runner in the Beat Movement, has and his gentleness and lust and search for love and human connection. It is sort of a generalization but it is widely accepted that Jack Kerouac is the paragon of the movement.
I have decided to alter my topic. I have a new point of interest. I find myself being drawn into the philosophers we have been studying about in our aesthetics unit. As I learn more, I am being to unravel similarities between philosophers such as Neitzche and Oscar Wilde to Beat Movement symbols such as Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassidy, and Jack himself. I have decided that I want to write a paper analyzing the similarities and therefore the differences between the two. I will have to start with finding out if there are actual philosophy books written by the patrons of the movement and if not, continue reading their published novels etc.
I personally find philosophers such as Neitzche and Wilde very intriguing and exciting, which is not to say I totally buy in to all of their controversial ideas, but still... The more I read of work from the beat movement the more I feel compelled to relate the texts to these ancient but relavent aesthetic philosophers. Their ideas transcend the ages.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found a topic that you are noticing an appreciation for. It sounds like since you've changed it, you can look for more specifics and have a better appreciation for the beat movement. Do you think that because you are connecting this movement to something you enjoy more, it's going to make you look more closely to connections to other sources we've had in class? For example, would it be easier now to connect the films that we've watched or the readings that we've read with those philosophers? I'm glad you found a topic that fits your preferences and expect that you will do really great on this project. Well done!