Beat generation

Beat generation can be described as an American social and literary movement originating in the 1950s.  “ They advocated personal release, purification, and illumination through the heightened sensory awareness that might be induced by drugs, jazz, sex, or the disciplines of Zen Buddhism.”  (“Beat movement”)

Characteristics:

• Sexual liberation and exploration.  

• Portraying the human condition clearly. 

• Experimentation with psychedelic drugs.  

• Rejection of materialism  

• Exploring religion, Western and Eastern.  

• Rejection of narrative.  

• Non-conformity  

• Spontaneous creativity. 

(“Beat generation”)

Examples of most important authors and their works:

• Jack Kerouac - On the Road

• Lawrence Ferlinghetti - A Coney Island of the Mind 

•  William S. Burroughs - Queer

• Gary Snyder - At Tower Peak

• Allen Ginsberg - Howl

Sources:

“Beat Movement.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/art/Beat-movement. 

“Beat Generation.” Poem Analysis, 8 Feb. 2024, poemanalysis.com/movement/beat-generation/.

Ema Ouřetská