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Beat generation

The Beat Generation was a group of American writers who came to prominence in the late 1950s 1950s

The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959.... 

 and early 1960s 1960s

The 1960s decade [i] refers to the years from 1960 [i] to 1969 [i], inclusive. ... 

. Their most important works are Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

's On the Road On the Road

On the Road is a novel by Jack Kerouac [i], published by Viking Press [i] in 1957 [i] ... 

, Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American [i] Beat poet [i] born in Newark, New Jersey [i]. ... 

's Howl Howl

*Amnesia [i] *Archangel [i] *Bebop [i] ... 

, and William S. Burroughs William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American [i] novelist [i], essayist [i], social critic [i] ... 

' Naked Lunch Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch is a novel [i] by William S. Burroughs [i]. ... 

.

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The Beat Generation was a group of American writers who came to prominence in the late 1950s 1950s

The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959.... 

 and early 1960s 1960s

The 1960s decade [i] refers to the years from 1960 [i] to 1969 [i], inclusive. ... 

. Their most important works are Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

's On the Road On the Road

On the Road is a novel by Jack Kerouac [i], published by Viking Press [i] in 1957 [i] ... 

, Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American [i] Beat poet [i] born in Newark, New Jersey [i]. ... 

's Howl Howl

*Amnesia [i]
  • Archangel [i]
  • Bebop [i]

... 

, and William S. Burroughs William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American [i] novelist [i], essayist [i], social critic [i] ... 

' Naked Lunch Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch is a novel [i] by William S. Burroughs [i]. ... 

.

Meaning and usage

Kerouac introduced the phrase Beat Generation sometime around 1948 to describe his friends and as a general term describing the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at that time to the novelist John Clellon Holmes . The adjective beat had the connotations of "tired" or "down and out", but Kerouac added the paradoxical connotations of upbeat, beatific, and the musical association of being "on the beat".

Calling this relatively small group of struggling writers, students, hustlers, and drug addicts a "generation" was to make the claim that they were representative and important—the beginnings of a new trend, analogous to the influential Lost Generation.

In trying to define the "Beat Generation" it's important to note that "Beat Generation" was originally a reference, not only to Kerouac's inner-circle, but to the burgeoning counter-culture. The press attached to the name "Beat Generation" as a reference to only a small group of writers, friends of Ginsberg, Kerouac or Burroughs. Thus the joke among Beat writers persisted in various forms: "Three friends does not make a generation." The press also mistakenly pointed to Ginsberg and Kerouac as leaders. This often leads to confusion about who actually belongs in the so-called "Beat Generation." Writers who may qualify as part of the "Beat Generation" may deny they were ever a part of it based on this limiting definition the press had given it. For example, they'll say they're friends with Ginsberg and Kerouac, not followers.

This leads to two ways to identify writers as members of the "Beat Generation," a broad and narrow definition. A narrow definition of the Beat Generation would include only the closest friends who relatively consistently defined themselves as "Beat" writers; this list may include: Ginsberg, Kerouac, Neal Cassady Neal Cassady

Neal Cassady was an icon of the Beat Generation [i] of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 196 ... 

, Gregory Corso Gregory Corso

Gregory Nunzio Corso was an American [i] poet [i], the fourth member of the canon of Beat Generation [i] ... 

, and Peter Orlovsky Peter Orlovsky

Peter Orlovsky is an American poet best known for being the lover of Beat Generation [i] poet Allen Ginsberg [i] ... 

. If "Beat Generation" is defined broadly, this smaller group is often just called "The New York Beats," though Orlovsky had little connection with New York. William S. Burroughs William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American [i] novelist [i], essayist [i], social critic [i] ... 

, one of the most important figures of this group, always adamantly denied he was a part of the "Beat Generation," but an accurate list of the close inner-circle would have to include him. Even Kerouac in his later career denied he was part of the "Beat Generation." In this sense movements like the San Francisco Renaissance and the Black Mountain poets would be completely separate movements.

If we define "Beat Generation" broadly the definition would include other writers who reached prominence in the late 1950's, early 1960's, who shared many of the same themes, ideas, intentions, etc. . Friendship, or at least a brief association, with Ginsberg or Kerouac would be an indication that a writer belongs in this broadly defined list of "Beat" writers. This list would include: San Francisco Renaissance poets such as Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

, Philip Whalen, Lew Welch, Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti

*
[i]
... 

, Harold Norse, Kirby Doyle; Michael McClure; surrealist Surrealism

Surrealism is an artistic, cultural and intellectual movement [i] oriented toward ... 

 poets Philip Lamantia and Ted Joans; poets associated with the Black Mountain College Black Mountain College

Black Mountain College, founded in 1933 [i] near Asheville, North Carolina [i], was known as one of the ... 

 such as Robert Creeley Robert Creeley

*Creeley, Robert. Sparrow 6: The Creative
... 

, Denise Levertov, Robert Duncan ; New York School poets such as Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch; poets who are occasionally called the "second wave" of the Beat Generation such as LeRoi Jones Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka is a American [i] writer [i] of poetry [i], drama [i], essays [i], and music ... 

/Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka is a American [i] writer [i] of poetry [i], drama [i], essays [i], and music ... 

, Diane DiPrima, Anne Waldman; Bob Kaufman; Tuli Kupferberg; Ed Sanders; John Wieners; Jack Micheline; Ray Bremser and Bonnie Bremser/Brenda Frazer; Ed Dorn Ed Dorn

Edward Dorn was a United States [i] poet [i] associated with the Black Mountain poets [i].
... 

; Jack Spicer; David Meltzer; Richard Brautigan Richard Brautigan

Richard Gary Brautigan was an American [i] writer [i], best known for the novel Trout Fishing in America [i] ... 

; Lenore Kendal; many previously underappreciated female writers who are now receiving more attention such as Joanne Kyger, Harriet Sohmers Zwerling, Janine Pommy Vega, Elise Cowen. And younger writers who were acquaintances of the aforementioned writers are occasionally included in this list. Charles Bukowski has a tenuous place on this list since his association is slight. Several older writers were very closely associated with members of the "Beat Generation" though their reputations were solidified so much earlier that it's difficult to call them part of the same "generation." They include Kenneth Rexroth the figure head of the San Francisco Renaissance, and Charles Olson Charles Olson

Charles Olson was an important 2nd generation American [i] modernist [i] ... 

 figure head of the Black Mountain School of poetry. Also, so many of these writers either studied personally with William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams

Dr. William Carlos Williams , was an American poet [i] closely associated with Modernism [i] ... 

 or looked up to Williams as an idol and followed his admonition to speak with an American voice, that Beat writers are often seen as being the children of Williams.

By either definition, the members of the Beat Generation were new bohemian Bohemianism

Though a Bohemian [i] is a native of the Czech [i] province of Bohemia [i], a secondary meaning ... 

 ecstatic epicureans, who often engaged in a spontaneous creativity. The style of their work may seem chaotic, but the chaos was purposeful; it highlighted the primacy of such Beat Generation essentials as spontaneity, open emotion, visceral engagement in often gritty worldly experiences. The beat writers produced a body of written work controversial both for its advocacy of non-conformity and for its non-conforming style.



The first "Beat" work to gain nationwide attention was Ginsberg's "Howl." An obscenity trial helped fuel its fame. One of the most enduringly famous "Beat" works, Kerouac's On The Road , which heralded the beginning of "Beat" popularity, was not published until 1957, in a sense capitalizing on the fame brought by the "Howl" obscenity trial. Burroughs' magnum opus Naked Lunch likewise went to trial for obscenity. Both obscenity trials helped to liberalize what could be legally published in the United States. From then on if anything was deemed to have literary value it was no longer considered obscene.

Echoes of the Beat Generation run throughout all the forms of alternative/counter culture that have existed since then . Also, since the "Beat Generation" had so much direct influence on rock musicians they had a hand in fostering the image of the rebellious rock star. The Beat Generation can be seen as the first modern subculture and the first fully American literary movement since the Transcendentalists. See the "Influences on Western Culture Beat generation

The Beat Generation was a group of American writers [i] who came to prominence in the late 1950s [i] and ... 

" section below.

History


The members of the narrowly defined "Beat Generation" met in New York New York City

[i] in the [[United States]... 

: Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

, Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American [i] Beat poet [i] born in Newark, New Jersey [i]. ... 

, William Burroughs William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American [i] novelist [i], essayist [i], social critic [i] ... 

, and later Gregory Corso Gregory Corso

Gregory Nunzio Corso was an American [i] poet [i], the fourth member of the canon of Beat Generation [i] ... 

 . Though endless travel around the country is part of their romanticized image, most of the central figures ended up together in San Francisco in the mid-1950s where they met and became friends with figures associated with the San Francisco Renaissance such as Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

, Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti

*
[i]
... 

, Michael McClure, Philip Whalen, Harold Norse, Lew Welch, and Kirby Doyle. They met there many other poets who had migrated to San Francisco because it had a reputation as an important new center of creativity. They met there Bob Kaufman who was the first to actually be called a "beatnik." And they met there Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Tuli Kupferberg, and members of the recently dissolved Black Mountain College looking for a new center of communal creativity, poets such as Robert Creeley Robert Creeley

*Creeley, Robert. Sparrow 6: The Creative
... 

 and Robert Duncan.

Many writers were inspired by the publication of "Howl" and On the Road and decided to join the group. The Beats met most of these writers when they returned to New York: John Wieners, LeRoi Jones Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka is a American [i] writer [i] of poetry [i], drama [i], essays [i], and music ... 

, Diane DiPrima, Anne Waldman. The New York School of poets, which had already been established as a movement in New York, found much in common with this ever-widening circle and consistently promoted one another's work.

Perhaps equally important were the less obviously creative members of the scene, who helped form their intellectual environment and provided the writers with much of their subject material: There was Herbert Huncke Herbert Huncke

Herbert Huncke was a rare blend of sub-culture [i] icon [i], writer, homosexual [i] pionee ... 

, a drug addict and petty thief met by Burroughs in 1946 who introduced the word "beat" and a lot more junky lingo and the junky lifestyle; Lucien Carr who was key to introducing many of the central figures to one another; and Hal Chase, an anthropologist from Denver Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital [i] and largest city of the U.S. state [i] of Colorado [i].... 

 who in 1947 introduced into the group Neal Cassady Neal Cassady

Neal Cassady was an icon of the Beat Generation [i] of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 196 ... 

, the hero and symbol of the American dream idolized in much Beat literature.

Also important were the oft-neglected women in the original circle, including Joan Vollmer Joan Vollmer

Joan Vollmer, is the most prominent female member of the early Beat Generation [i] circle. ... 

 and Edie Parker. Their apartment in the upper west side of Manhattan often functioned as a salon and Joan Vollmer in particular was a serious participant in the marathon discussion sessions.

Columbia University and The Kammerer Stabbing


The original circle met at Columbia University; though they were later considered anti-academic artists, the seed for the Beat Generation was planted in a highly academic environment. For example, many of their early ideas were formed by arguments with professors such as Lionel Trilling and Mark VanDoran. It was the same environment where classmates such as Louis Simpson and Donald Hall became champions of formalism. This is where Carr and Ginsberg discussed the need for a "New Vision" to move away from Columbia University's conservative notions of literature. With the introduction of Burroughs, Huncke, and Cassady, the new focus became real life experiences instead of academic intellectualizing. Perhaps the most important early experience that drew most of the members of the Beat Generation together was the stabbing of David Kammerer. It's one reason Burroughs maintained his close-but-distant relationship with the rest of the Beats. It was an incident Kerouac tried to capture twice, in his first novel The Town and the City and one of his last, The Vanity of Duluoz.

Burroughs was born in St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis , sometimes written Saint Louis, encompasses an independent city [i] in the U.S. state [i] ... 

 in 1914; making him roughly ten years older than most of the other original beats. While still living in St. Louis, Burroughs met David Kammerer, presumably an association based on their shared homosexual Homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to sexual [i] and romantic [i] attraction between t ... 

 orientation and intellectual tendencies.

As a boys' youth-group leader in the mid-1930s, David Kammerer became infatuated with the young Lucien Carr . Kammerer formed a pattern of following Carr around the country as he attended different colleges. In the fall of 1942, at the University of Chicago, Kammerer introduced 17-year-old Lucien Carr to William S. Burroughs.

Burroughs was a Harvard-graduate who lived off a stipend from his relatively wealthy family. His grandfather had invented the Burroughs Adding Machine, though the amount of wealth in the family is often exaggerated .

The three became good friends, whose sprees got Burroughs kicked out of his rooming house and culminated in Carr confined in a mental ward after an apparent attempted suicide with a gas oven .

In the spring of 1943, Carr's family moved him to Columbia University in New York, where Kammerer, and then Burroughs shortly followed.

At Columbia, Carr met the freshman Allen Ginsberg, whom he introduced to Burroughs and Kammerer. Edie Parker, another member of the crowd, introduced Carr to her boyfriend Jack Kerouac once he came back from his stint as a merchant marine. In 1944, Carr introduced Kerouac and Burroughs.

Kammerer's fixation was obvious to everyone in the circle, and he became jealous as Carr developed a relationship with a young woman . In mid-August, 1944, Lucien Carr killed him with a boy scout knife in what may have been self-defense after an altercation in a park on the Hudson river Hudson River

The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in Mahican [i], is a river [i] running mainly throu ... 

.

Carr disposed of the body into the river. He first went to Burroughs for advice, who recommended he get a lawyer and turn himself in with a claim of self-defense. Instead, Carr went to Kerouac, who helped him dispose of the weapon.

Carr turned himself in the next morning and Kerouac and Burroughs were both charged as accessories to the crime. Burroughs quickly got the money for bail, but Kerouac's parents refused to post it for him. Edie Parker and her family came through, with the condition that they be married immediately.

The Times Square Underworld


Burroughs had long had an interest in experimenting with criminal behavior, and gradually made contacts in the criminal underground of New York, becoming involved with dealing in stolen goods and narcotics and developing a decades long addiction to opiates Opium

Opium, or opum is a narcotic [i] analgesic [i] drug [i] which is obtained from the unri... 

. Burroughs met Herbert Huncke, a small-time criminal and drug addict who often hung around the Times Square Times Square

For other uses, see Times Square [i].
... 

 area.

The beats found Huncke a fascinating character. As Ginsberg put it, they were on a quest for "supreme reality", and somehow felt that Huncke, as a member of the underclass had learned things they were sheltered from in their middle/upper-middle class lives.

Various problems resulted from this association: In 1949 Ginsberg was in trouble with the law . He pleaded insanity and was briefly committed to Bellevue, where he met Carl Solomon Howl

*Amnesia [i]
  • Archangel [i]
  • Bebop [i]

... 

. When committed Carl Solomon was more eccentric than psychotic — a fan of Antonin Artaud Antonin Artaud

Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud was a French [i] playwright [i] ... 

, he indulged in some self-consciously "crazy" behavior, e.g. throwing potato salad at a lecturer on Dadaism Dada

Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement [i] that began in neutral Zrich [i], Switzerland [i], durin ... 

. Ted Morgan also mentions an incident where he stole a peanut butter sandwich in a cafeteria, and showed it to a security guard. If not crazy when he was admitted, Solomon was arguably driven mad by the insulin Insulin

Insulin is a polypeptide [i] hormone [i] that regulates carbohydrate metabolism [i]. ... 

 shock treatments applied at Bellevue, and this is one of the things referred to in Ginsberg's poem "Howl" . After his release, Solomon became the publishing contact that agreed to publish Burroughs' first novel Junky  shortly before another episode resulted in him being committed again.

Neal Cassady


The introduction of Neal Cassady Neal Cassady

Neal Cassady was an icon of the Beat Generation [i] of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 196 ... 

 into the scene in 1947 had a number of effects. A number of the beats were enthralled with Cassady — Ginsberg had an affair with him; and Kerouac's road trips with him in the late 40s became a focus of his second novel, On the Road On the Road

On the Road is a novel by Jack Kerouac [i], published by Viking Press [i] in 1957 [i] ... 

. Cassady is one of the sources of "rapping" - the loose spontaneous babble that later became associated with "beatniks" . He was not much of a writer himself, though the core writers of the group were impressed with the free-flowing style of some of his letters, and Kerouac cited this as a key influence on his invention of the spontaneous prose style/technique that he used in his key works . On the Road, written somewhat in this style, transformed Cassady into a cultural icon: a hyper wildman, frequently broke- going from woman to woman, car to car, town to town; largely amoral, but frantically engaged with life.

The time lags involved in the publication of Kerouac's On the Road often creates confusion: It was written in 1952 — shortly after John Clellon Holmes published "Go", and the article "This is the beat generation" — and it covered events that took place much earlier, beginning in the late 40s. Since the book was not published until 1957, many people received the impression that it was describing the late '50s era, though it was actually a document of a time ten years earlier.

The legend of how "On the Road" was written was as influential as the book itself: high on speed, Kerouac typed rapidly on a continuous scroll of telegraph paper to avoid having to break his chain of thought at the end of each sheet of paper. Kerouac's dictum was that "the first thought is best thought", and insisted that you should never revise text after it is written — though there remains some question about how carefully Kerouac observed this rule. Although Kerouac maintained he wrote this particular book in one mad 3-week burst, it is clear from manuscript evidence that he had previously written several drafts and had been contemplating the novel for years. Also, the text went through many changes between the final "roll" manuscript and the published version- more evidence to suggest Kerouac's deviation from his dictum- although, to be fair, he had written the book before devising this code.

Gregory Corso


In 1950 Gregory Corso Gregory Corso

Gregory Nunzio Corso was an American [i] poet [i], the fourth member of the canon of Beat Generation [i] ... 

 met Ginsberg, who was impressed by the poetry Corso had written while incarcerated for burglary. Gregory Corso was the young d'Artagnan D'Artagnan

Charles de Batz-Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan served Louis XIV [i] as captain of musketeer [i] ... 

 added to the original three of the core beat writers, and for decades the four were often spoken of together; though later critical attention for Corso waned. Corso's first book The Vestal Lady on Brattle and Other Poems appeared in 1955.

San Francisco


Some time later there was much cross-pollination with San Francisco San Francisco, California

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth-largest city in California [i] and the fourteenth-lar ... 

 area writers . Ferlinghetti became a focus of the scene as well as the older poet Rexroth, whose apartment became a Friday night literary salon. Ginsberg was introduced to Rexroth by an introductory letter from his mentor William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams

Dr. William Carlos Williams , was an American poet [i] closely associated with Modernism [i] ... 

, an old friend of Rexroth's. When Ginsberg organized the famous Six Gallery reading in 1955, he had Rexroth MC; in a sense Rexroth was bridging two generations. This was the first public appearance of Ginsberg's poem Howl and is considered one of the most important moments in the Beat Generation: it brought East Coast and West Coast poets together; the reading itself quickly sparked a legend and lead to many more readings by the now locally famous Six Gallery poets around California. Soon after the Six Gallery reading, Ferlinghetti wrote Ginsberg a letter, saying, "I greet you at the beginning of a brilliant career. When do I get the manuscript?" This was an adaptation of Thoreau's comment about Whitman's poetry, a prophecy of sorts that Howl would bring as much energy to this new movement as Whitman brought to 19th century poetry. This is also a marker of the beginning of the Beat movement since the publication of Howl and the subsequent obscenity trial brought nationwide attention to many of the other members of this group.

An account of the Six Gallery reading forms the second chapter of Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

's 1958 novel The Dharma Bums The Dharma Bums

The Dharma Bums is a 1958 [i] novel by Beat Generation [i] author Jack Kerouac [i]. ... 

, a novel about another poet that read at the event: Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

 . Most of the people in the Beat movement had urban backgrounds and they found Snyder to be an almost exotic individual, with his backcountry and rural experience, and his education in cultural anthropology and Oriental languages. Lawrence Ferlinghetti has referred to him as 'the Thoreau Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an American [i] author, development critic [i] ... 

 of the Beat Generation". One of the primary subjects of The Dharma Bums is Buddhism Buddhism

Buddhism is a dharmic [i], non-theistic [i] religion [i], a way of life, a p ... 

, and the different attitudes that Kerouac and Snyder have towards it. The Dharma Bums undoubtedly helped to popularize Buddhism in the West Western world

The term Western World or "the West" can have multiple meanings depending on its context.... 

.

Women of the Beat Generation

There is typically very little mention of women in a history of the early Beat Generation, and a strong argument can be made that this omission is largely a reflection of the sexism Sexism

Sexism is commonly considered to be discrimination [i] and/or hatred [i] against people based on their sex [i] ... 

 of the time rather than a reflection of the actual state of affairs.

Joan Vollmer Joan Vollmer

Joan Vollmer, is the most prominent female member of the early Beat Generation [i] circle. ... 

  was clearly there at the beginning of the Beat Generation, and all accounts describe her as a very intelligent and interesting woman. But she did not herself write and publish, and unlike Neal Cassady Neal Cassady

Neal Cassady was an icon of the Beat Generation [i] of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 196 ... 

, no one chose to write a book about her; she has gone down in history as the wife of William Burroughs William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American [i] novelist [i], essayist [i], social critic [i] ... 

, killed by him in a shooting incident.

Joan is mentioned in 'On the Road', in the chapters regarding the Kerouac and Cassady's visits to see 'Old Bull Lee' in New Orleans, and is pseudonymed as 'Jane'. She is described paradoxically as a distant woman who was 'never more than 10 feet away from Old Bull' at any given time, giving the impression that she is complex and difficult to get to know.

Gregory Corso Gregory Corso

Gregory Nunzio Corso was an American [i] poet [i], the fourth member of the canon of Beat Generation [i] ... 

 insisted that there were many female beats, in particular, he claimed that a young woman he met in mid-1955 introduced Kerouac and Ginsberg to subjects such as Li Po Li Bai

Li Bai or Li Po was a Chinese poet [i] who lived during the Tang Dynasty [i] ... 

 and was in fact their original teacher regarding eastern religion .

Corso insisted that it was hard for women to get away with a Bohemian existence in that era: they were regarded as crazy, and removed from the scene by force . This is confirmed by Diane di Prima :

I can't say a lot of really great women writers were ignored in my time, but I can say a lot of potentially great women writers wound up dead or crazy. I think of the women on the Beat scene with me in the early '50s, where are they now? I know Barbara Moraff is a potter and does some writing in Vermont, and that's about all I know. I know some of them ODed and some of them got nuts, and one woman that I was running around the Village with in '53 was killed by her parents putting her in a shock treatment place in Pennsylvania ...


However, a number of female beats have perservered, notably Joyce Johnson Joyce Johnson

Joyce Johnson is an American author of fiction and nonfiction who won a National Book Critics Circle Award [i] ... 

 ; Carolyn Cassady ; Hettie Jones ; Joanne Kyger ; Harriet Sohmers Zwerling; and the aforementioned Diane di Prima . Later, other women writers emerged who were strongly influenced by the beats, such as Janine Pommy Vega  in the 1960s, and Patti Smith Patti Smith

Patti Smith is an American [i] musician [i], singer [i], and poet [i]. ... 

 in the early 1970s.

Collaborations, Inspirations, and References


Collaboration and mutual inspiration are essential aspects of movements; this is certainly true for the Beat Generation. Here are a few examples of collaborations, mutual promotion and inspiration, and references in works by Beat associates to other writers of the broadly defined Beat Generation.

  • Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg

    Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American [i] Beat poet [i] born in Newark, New Jersey [i]. ... 

     was a tireless promoter of the works of other members of the Beat Generation. He considered himself a pro bono literary agent for all of his friends and for those with similar ideas. For example, he was instrumental in getting William S. Burroughs William S. Burroughs

    William Seward Burroughs II was an American [i] novelist [i], essayist [i], social critic [i] ... 

    ' first book published. Ginsberg encouraged Burroughs to write in the first place.


  • Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac

    Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

     and William S. Burroughs collaborated early on a parody of hardboiled detective fiction called And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks.


  • Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac

    Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

     references many important Beat figures in his novel. Two of his most important novels feature Neal Cassady Neal Cassady

    Neal Cassady was an icon of the Beat Generation [i] of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 196 ... 

     and Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

    Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

     as prominent characters.


  • Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

    Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

     dedicated several poems to Lew Welch and has referenced other Beat figures, such as Kerouac, in his poetry.


  • Frank O'Hara in his conversational poems often talks about eating lunch with "LeRoi" and often references other Beat writers such as Ginsberg and John Wieners.


  • LeRoi Jones Amiri Baraka

    Amiri Baraka is a American [i] writer [i] of poetry [i], drama [i], essays [i], and music ... 

    /Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka

    Amiri Baraka is a American [i] writer [i] of poetry [i], drama [i], essays [i], and music ... 

     occasionally references other Beats in his writing . Baraka and Diane DiPrima edited a magazine called Yugen which published many of the Beat writers.

Open Form vs. Closed Form Poetry


One way to understand why the Beat Generation was considered radical and a good way to measure their impact is to look at the literary establishment, specifically poetry, of the 1950s and how it was changed in the 1960s. Poetry in the 1950s was under the heavy influence of T. S. Eliot T. S. Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM [i] was an American poet [i], dramatist [i] and literary critic [i] ... 

's often misinterpreted idea of poetry being an escape from self and the Modernist Modernism

Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to make, improve and reshape the... 

 focus on objectivity. Similar to this, and perhaps an even more pervasive influence, was the ideas of the New Critics and their idea of a poem as a perfectable object; specifically the poetry of John Crowe Ransom and Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren

Robert Penn Warren was an American [i] poet, novelist [i], and literary critic, and was a ... 

 was highly influential at this time. Their focus on the formal aspects of poetry their celebration of the short, ironic lyric led to a rise formalist poetry and a preference for the short lyric. Three champions of this poetry. When the Beat poets came to prominence in this time they were damned as sloppy libertines, and at best only a passing fad fueled by media attention.

This conflict was framed by two rival anthologies. Three champions of formalist poetry, Louis Simpson, Donald Hall, and Robert Pack, were putting together an anthology of young poets called New Poets of England and America. Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American [i] Beat poet [i] born in Newark, New Jersey [i]. ... 

, believing at the time the Beat poets would be accepted by the literary establishment, brought Simpson, his old Columbia classmate, a packet of poetry including Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

, Philip Whalen, Robert Duncan, Ed Dorn Ed Dorn

Edward Dorn was a United States [i] poet [i] associated with the Black Mountain poets [i].
... 

, Robert Creeley Robert Creeley

*Creeley, Robert. Sparrow 6: The Creative
... 

, Philip Lamantia, Denise Levertov, Michael McClure, and Charles Olsen Charles Olson

Charles Olson was an important 2nd generation American [i] modernist [i] ... 

 in hopes that they would be included in this new anthology . Simpson rejected all of them. The introduction for the anthology was written by formalist hero Robert Frost Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American [i] poet [i], one of the foremost of the 20th century. ... 

. The anthology included poetry by Robert Bly Robert Bly

Robert Bly is a poet [i], author, and leader of the Mythopoetic [i] Men's Movement [i] in t ... 

, Donald Justice Donald Justice

Donald Justice was an American [i] poet [i] and teacher of writing.... 

, James Merrill James Merrill

James Ingram Merrill was a Pulitzer Prize [i] winning American [i] poet [i], one of the mo... 

, W. S. Merwin, Howard Nemerov, Adrienne Rich, Richard Wilbur, and James Wright. There is not a strict demarcation here between conservative and liberal poetry. The anthology also included poets associated with what is considered a movement parallel to the Beat Genaration, The Angry Young Men, poets such as Kingsley Amis Kingsley Amis

Sir Kingsley William Amis was an English [i] novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. ... 

, Philip Larkin, and Thom Gunn. However, it did set a trend for who would become poets acceptable to academia and the literary establishment. For example, Robert Lowell and W. D. Snodgrass would be seminal in the creation of what later became known as Confessional poetry, which helped finally overturn the strict focus on objectivity .

Donald Allen of Grove Press accepted many of the manuscripts Ginsberg gave him for his rival anthology The New American Poets: 1945-1960. Poets in that anthology included John Ashbery John Ashbery

John Ashbery is an American [i] poet [i]. ... 

, Paul Blackburn, Ray Bremser, Gregory Corso Gregory Corso

Gregory Nunzio Corso was an American [i] poet [i], the fourth member of the canon of Beat Generation [i] ... 

, Robert Creeley Robert Creeley

*Creeley, Robert. Sparrow 6: The Creative
... 

, Ed Dorn Ed Dorn

Edward Dorn was a United States [i] poet [i] associated with the Black Mountain poets [i].
... 

, Kirby Doyle, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti

*
[i]
... 

, Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American [i] Beat poet [i] born in Newark, New Jersey [i]. ... 

, LeRoi Jones Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka is a American [i] writer [i] of poetry [i], drama [i], essays [i], and music ... 

, Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

, Kenneth Koch, Philip Lamantia, Denise Levertov, Michael McClure, Frank O'Hara, Charles Olson Charles Olson

Charles Olson was an important 2nd generation American [i] modernist [i] ... 

, Joel Oppenheimer, Peter Orlovsky Peter Orlovsky

Peter Orlovsky is an American poet best known for being the lover of Beat Generation [i] poet Allen Ginsberg [i] ... 

, James Schuyler, Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

, Jack Spicer, Lew Welch, Philip Whalen, John Wieners, and Jonathan Williams. Don Allen framed the debate as "Open Form" vs. "Closed Form" . Though seeing it as a rivalry is overly simplistic , the development of poetry in the later half of the twentieth century is framed in these two anthologies.

These poets have had arguably equal impact on literature, and it can be said Beat literature has changed the establishment so that academia is more open to more radical forms of literature. For example, of the poets listed in this section, ten from New Poets of England and America and nine from The New American Poetry have been included in the Norton Anthology of American Literature. But Jack Kerouac, despite his impact on American culture and his status as an American icon, has never been included in Norton. Also, three poets from New Poets of England and America have served as Poets Laureate of the U.S. No Beat poet has ever served as Poet Laureate.

The Beatnik stereotype

The term Beatnik Beatnik

The term beatnik was coined by Herb Caen [i] in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle [i] on ... 

was coined by Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle

Today's San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 [i] as "The Daily Dramatic Chronicle" by teenage... 

on April 2, 1958 as a derogatory term, and was probably a reference to the recent Russian satellite Sputnik Sputnik program

The Sputnik program was a series of unmanned space mission [i]s launched by the Soviet Union [i] in the ... 

. Caen's coining of this term appeared to suggest that beatniks were "far out of the mainstream of society" and "possibly pro-Communist Communism

Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a future classless [i], stateless [i] ... 

". Caen's new term stuck and became the popular label associated with a new stereotype of men with goatee Goatee

A goatee is a beard [i] formed by a tuft of hair [i] on the chin.... 

s and beret Beret

A beret is a soft round cap [i], usually of wool felt [i], with a flat crown, which is worn by both men... 

s playing bongo Bongo drum

Bongo drums or bongos are a percussion instrument [i]. ... 

s while women wearing black leotards dance. It should be noted that thousands of young people on college campuses and even in high schools came to regard themselves as beats or beatniks in the late 1950s and very early 1960s and many of them behaved in a manner very similar to that of the popular stereotype; indeed they comprised a cultural movement of sorts, apart from the literary beats, and often were proud to be called beatniks.

Influences on Western culture

There are many authors who can claim to be influenced by the beats ; but the Beat Generation phenomenon itself has had a huge influence on Western Culture overall, larger than just the effects of some writers and artists on other writers and artists.

In many ways, the Beats can be taken as the first subculture . During the very conformist post-World War II World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide [i] conflict [i] fought betwe ... 

 era they were one of the forces engaged in a questioning of traditional values which produced a break with the mainstream culture that to this day people react to -- or against.

There's no question that Beats produced a great deal of interest in lifestyle experimentation ; and they had a large intellectual effect in encouraging the questioning of authority ; and many of them were very active in popularizing interest in Zen Buddhism Zen

Zen is a branch of Mahayana [i] Buddhism [i] which strongly emphasizes the practice of moment-by-moment ... 

 in the West.

A quotation from Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American [i] Beat poet [i] born in Newark, New Jersey [i]. ... 

's A Definition of the Beat Generation as published in Friction, 1 , revised for Beat Culture and the New America: 1950-1965:

Ginsberg has characterized some of the essential effects of Beat Generation artistic movement in the following terms:

  • Spiritual liberation, sexual "revolution" or "liberation," i.e., gay liberation, somewhat catalyzing women's liberation, black liberation, Gray Panther activism.


  • Liberation of the world from censorship Censorship

    Censorship is the control of speech [i] and other forms of human expression [i]. ... 

    .


  • Demystification and/or decriminalization of some laws against marijuana Cannabis (drug)

    The drug [i] cannabis, also called marijuana, is produced from parts of the cannabis [i]... 

     and other drugs Drug

    A drug is a substance, such as a pharmaceutical product, used in or on the surface of the body to diagno... 

    .


  • The evolution of rhythm and blues into rock and roll as a high art form, as evidenced by the Beatles The Beatles

    The Beatles were an English Pop/Rock and Roll band formed in 1962 by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harri... 

    , Bob Dylan Bob Dylan

    Bob Dylan is an American [i] singer-songwriter [i], author [i], musician [i] and poet [i] ... 

    , and other popular musicians influenced in the later fifties and sixties by Beat generation poets' and writers' works.


  • The spread of ecological consciousness, emphasized early on by Gary Snyder Gary Snyder

    Gary Snyder is an American [i] poet [i], essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist [i]... 

     and Michael McClure, the notion of a "Fresh Planet."


  • Opposition to the military-industrial machine civilization, as emphasized in writings of Burroughs Burroughs

    The Burroughs Corporation began in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company in St. Louis, Missouri [i]... 

    , Huncke Herbert Huncke

    Herbert Huncke was a rare blend of sub-culture [i] icon [i], writer, homosexual [i] pionee ... 

    , Ginsberg Ginsberg

    Ginsberg is a surname, possibly referring to:

... 

, and Kerouac Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

.

  • Attention to what Kerouac Jack Kerouac

    Jack Kerouac was an American [i] novelist [i], writer [i], poet [i], artist [i], and pa ... 

     called a "second religiousness" developing within an advanced civilization.


  • Return to an appreciation of idiosyncrasy as against state regimentation.


  • Respect for land and indigenous peoples and creatures, as proclaimed by Kerouac in his slogan from On the Road: "The Earth is an Indian thing."


The essence of the phrase "beat generation" may be found in On the Road with the celebrated phrase: "Everything belongs to me because I am poor."

Transition to the "Hippie" era

Some time during the 1960s, the rapidly expanding "beat" culture underwent a transformation: the "Beat Generation" gave way to "The Sixties Counterculture Counterculture

In sociology [i], counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group [i] whose values and norms ... 

", which was accompanied by a shift in public terminology from "Beatnik" to "hippie Hippie

Hippie, occasionally spelled hippy, refers to a subgroup of the 1960s countercultural movement [i] ... 

".

This was in many respects a gradual transition. Many of the original Beats remained active participants, notably Allen Ginsberg, who became a fixture of the anti-war movement -- though equally notably, Kerouac did not remain active on the scene: he broke with Ginsberg and criticized the 60s protest movements as "new excuses for spitefulness".

The Beats in general were a large influence on members of the new "counterculture Counterculture

In sociology [i], counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group [i] whose values and norms ... 

", for example, in the case of Bob Dylan Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American [i] singer-songwriter [i], author [i], musician [i] and poet [i] ... 

 who became a close friend of Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg as early as 1960 became close friends with 60's icon Timothy Leary Timothy Leary

Timothy Francis Leary, Ph.D. [i] was an American [i] writer [i] ... 

 and helped him in distributing LSD to influential people in order to demystify drug paranoia.

The year 1963 found Ginsberg living in San Francisco with Neal Cassady Neal Cassady

Neal Cassady was an icon of the Beat Generation [i] of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 196 ... 

 and Charles Plymell at 1403 Gough St. Shortly after that Ginsberg connected with Ken Kesey Ken Kesey

Ken Elton Kesey was an American [i] author [i], best known for his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [i] ... 

's crowd who was doing LSD testing at Stanford, and Plymell was instrumental in publishing the first issue of R. Crumb Robert Crumb

Robert Dennis Crumb is an artist and illustrator recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings an... 

's Zap Comix Zap Comix

Zap Comix is the best-known of the underground comics [i] that emerged as part of the youth counterculture [i]... 

 on his printing press a few years later then moved to Ginsberg's commune in Cherry Valley, NY in the early 1970s.

Cassady was the bus driver for one of the most important early Hippie groups, Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, which included several members of the Grateful Dead Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead were an American [i] psychedelia [i]-influenced rock [i] band form ... 

. A sign of Kerouac's break with this new direction in counterculture occurred when the Merry Pranksters, with Cassady's insistence, attempted to recruit Kerouac. Kerouac angrily rejected their invitation and accused them of attempting to destroy the American culture he celebrated.

According to Ed Sanders the change in the public label from "beatnik" to "hippie" happened after the 1967 Human Be-In in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park . Ginsberg was also present at another important event in Hippie culture: the protest at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and was friends with Abbie Hoffman Abbie Hoffman

Abbott Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a social and political activist [i] in the United States [i] ... 

 and other members of the "Chicago Seven".

There were certainly some stylistic differences between "beatniks" and "hippies" — somber colors, dark shades, and goatees gave way to colorful "psychedelic" clothing and long hair. The beats were known for "playing it cool" but the hippies became known for "being cool" .

In addition to the stylistic changes, there were some changes in substance: the beats tended to be essentially apolitical, but the hippies became actively engaged with the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. To quote Gary Snyder in a 1974 interview :

... the next key point was Castro taking over Cuba. The apolitical quality of Beat thought changed with that. It sparked quite a discussion and quite a dialogue; many people had been basic pacifists with considerable disillusion with Marxian revolutionary rhetoric. At the time of Castro's victory, it had to be rethought again. Here was a revolution that had used violence and that was apparently a good thing. Many people abandoned the pacifist position at that time or at least began to give more thought to it. In any case, many people began to look to politics again as having possibilities. From that follows, at least on some levels, the beginning of civil rights activism, which leads through our one whole chain of events: the Movement.


We had little confidence in our power to make any long range or significant changes. That was the 50s, you see. It seemed that bleak. So that our choices seemed entirely personal existential lifetime choices that there was no guarantee that we would have any audience, or anybody would listen to us; but it was a moral decision, a moral poetic decision. Then Castro changed things, then Martin Luther King changed things ...

Drug usage

The original members or the Beat Generation group — in Allen Ginsberg's phrase, "the libertine circle" — used a number of different drugs.

In addition to the alcohol common in American life, they were also interested in marijuana Cannabis (drug)

The drug [i] cannabis, also called marijuana, is produced from parts of the cannabis [i]... 

, benzedrine Benzedrine

Benzedrine is the trade name of the racemic [i] variant of amphetamine [i]. ... 

 and, in some cases, opiates such as morphine Morphine

Morphine is an extremely powerful opiate [i] analgesic [i] drug [i] and is the principal ac ... 

. As time went on, many of them began using other psychedelic drugs, such as peyote Peyote

Peyote is a small spineless cactus [i] whose native region extends from the southwestern United States [i] ... 

, yage Ayahuasca

The widely used Quechua [i] name ayahuasca has two highly interrelated yet distinc ... 

 , and LSD LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, or LSD-25, is a semisynthetic [i] psychedelic drug [i] ... 

.

Much of this usage can fairly be termed "experimental", in that they were generally unfamiliar with the effects of these drugs, and there were intellectual aspects to their interest in them as well as a simple pursuit of hedonistic intoxication.

Benzedrine at that time was available in the form of plastic inhalers, containing a piece of folded paper soaked in the drug. They would typically crack open the inhalers and drop the paper in coffee, or just wad it up and swallow it whole.

Opiates could be obtained in the form of morphine "syrettes": a squeeze tube with a hypodermic needle tip.

As the Beat phenomenon spread , usage of some of these drugs also became more widespread. According to stereotype, the "hippies" commonly used the psychedelic drugs , though the use of other drugs such as amphetamines was also widespread.

The actual results of this "experimentation" can be difficult to determine. Claims that some of these drugs can enhance creativity, insight or productivity were quite common, as is the belief that the drugs in use were a key influence on the social events of the time .

Historical context

The postwar era was a time where the dominant culture was desperate for a reassuring planned order; but there was a strong intellectual undercurrent calling for spontaneity, an end to psychological repression; a romantic desire for a more chaotic, Dionysian existence.

The Beats were a manifestation of this undercurrent , but they were not the only one. Before Jack Kerouac embraced "spontaneous prose", there were other artists pursuing self-expression by abandoning control, notably the improvisational elements in jazz music. The bop form of jazz championed by Charlie Parker Charlie Parker

Charles "Bird" Parker, Jr. was an American jazz [i] saxophonist [i] and composer. ... 

 and others was one of the biggest influences on many of the Beats.

Close analogies to the writings of the Beats can be found in the action paintings of Jackson Pollock Jackson Pollock

Paul Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter [i] and a major force in the abstract expressionist [i]... 

 and the work of other Abstract Expressionists Abstract expressionism

Abstract expressionism was an America [i]n post-World War II [i] art movement [i]. ... 

 such as Willem DeKooning Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning was an abstract expressionist [i] painter, born in Rotterdam [i], Netherlands [i]. ... 

 and Franz Kline Franz Kline

Franz Kline was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist [i] ... 

. It's not surprising that members of the New York School of Abstract Expressonism were friends with many members of the Beat Generation; they were so closely tied with parallel movements such as the New York School of poetry and the Black Mountain school.

Black Mountain was associated with many other artists in the post-war period who embraced a similar disdain for refined control, often with the opposite intent of suppressing the ego, and avoiding self-expression; notably, the works of the composer/writer John Cage John Cage

John Milton Cage was an American [i] experimental music [i] composer [i], writer and visu ... 

 and the paintings and "assemblages" of Robert Rauschenberg Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg is a painter, sculptor, and graphic artist known for helping to redefine American ar... 

. The "cut-up" technique that Brion Gysin developed and that William Burroughs adopted after publishing Naked Lunch bears a strong resemblance to Cage's "chance operations" approach.

The "cut-up" method may have its origins many years earlier in the poetry of Dadaist Dada

Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement [i] that began in neutral Zrich [i], Switzerland [i], durin ... 

/Surrealist Surrealism

Surrealism is an artistic, cultural and intellectual movement [i] oriented toward ... 

 Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara

[i]n artist Sami Rosenstock, born in [[Moinesti]... 

 who recommended putting cut up words in a bag and pulling them out randomly to create a poem. Dadaism Dada

Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement [i] that began in neutral Zrich [i], Switzerland [i], durin ... 

 and Surrealism Surrealism

Surrealism is an artistic, cultural and intellectual movement [i] oriented toward ... 

 arguably had the most direct impact on the Beats: Dadaism with its attack on the elitism of high culture and its celebration of spontaneity; Surrealism with its transformation of the Dadaist rebellion into positive social intentions and its focus on revelations from the subconscious. Both movements, in a sense, developed as a reaction to WWI, just as the Beat Generation was reacting to the environment of post-WWII America. Carl Solomon Howl

*Amnesia [i]
  • Archangel [i]
  • Bebop [i]

... 

 introduced the work of Surrealist Antonin Artaud Antonin Artaud

Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud was a French [i] playwright [i] ... 

 to Ginsberg. Artaud had a strong influence on many of the other Beats. The poetry of Andre Breton André Breton

Andr Breton was a French [i] writer [i], poet [i], and surrealist [i] theorist, and is best know ... 

 was also a direct influence . Since Surrealism Surrealism

Surrealism is an artistic, cultural and intellectual movement [i] oriented toward ... 

 was still in many ways a vital movement in the 1950s, the Beats had interactions with many Surrealists and former Dadaists. Beat associates such as Rexroth, Ferlinghetti, and Ron Padgett were responsible for translating a lot of the poetry from French and introducing it to English-speaking audiences. Several Beat associates, such as Ted Joans, were actual members of the Surrealist group; another example is Philip Lamantia who was close with Breton and was responsible for introducing a lot of Surrealist poetry to the other Beats. The poetry of Gregory Corso Gregory Corso

Gregory Nunzio Corso was an American [i] poet [i], the fourth member of the canon of Beat Generation [i] ... 

 and Bob Kaufman show the clearest influence of Surrealist poetry , though this influence can also be seen in more subtle ways in other poetry, Ginsberg's in particular. When in France the Beats met many Surrealists and former Dadaists. As the legend goes, when they met Marcel Duchamp Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work and ideas had considerable influence on the development... 

, Ginsberg kissed his shoe and Corso cut off his tie.

Many other other French writers still active in the 1950s had a tremendous impact on the writing of the Beat Generation, writers such as Louis-Ferdinand Celine and Jean Genet. Older French writers rank high on the list of shared Beat influences: Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire

Guillaume Apollinaire was a poet [i], writer [i], and art critic [i]. ... 

, for example. Beats also repeatedly invoke the spirit of Symbolists such as