See Also

Beatnik

The term beatnik was coined by Herb Caen in an article in 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. Caen coined the term by essentially modifying the earlier term Beat Generation Beat generation

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

 by adding the Russian Russian language

Russian is the most widely spoken language of Eurasia [i] and the most widespread of the Slavic languages [i] ... 

 suffix -nik after Sputnik I Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite [i] to be put into orbit [i], on October 4 [i], 1957 [i]. ... 

. It may have been Caen's intent to portray the "beats" of the Beat Generation in a negative light by his new turn of phrase, which implied that the "beats" were un-American. Kerouac's earlier term had more positive connotations, associating the Beat Generation with words like the musical definition of beat, the journalistic definition of beat, and religious connotations with the word beatitude.

Discussions

  Discussion Features

   Ask a question about 'Beatnik'

   Start a new discussion about 'Beatnik'

   Answer questions about 'Beatnik'

   'Beatnik' discussion forum


Encyclopedia



The term beatnik was coined by Herb Caen in an article in 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. Caen coined the term by essentially modifying the earlier term Beat Generation Beat generation

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

 by adding the Russian Russian language

Russian is the most widely spoken language of Eurasia [i] and the most widespread of the Slavic languages [i] ... 

 suffix -nik after Sputnik I Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite [i] to be put into orbit [i], on October 4 [i], 1957 [i]. ... 

. It may have been Caen's intent to portray the "beats" of the Beat Generation in a negative light by his new turn of phrase, which implied that the "beats" were un-American. Kerouac's earlier term had more positive connotations, associating the Beat Generation with words like the musical definition of beat, the journalistic definition of beat, and religious connotations with the word beatitude.

Once the term beatnik had been coined, it gradually replaced the earlier term beat generation, though historians still refer to the earlier term. Since 1958, the term beatnik has been used to describe an anti-materialistic literary movement that began with Kerouac in 1948, stretching on into the 1960s. Many historians have asserted that the beatnik philosophy of anti-materialism, combined with its fundamental soul-searching ethos, may have influenced some of the lyrics of popular 1960s musical groups such as the early Pink Floyd Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd are an English [i] rock [i] band noted for philosophical [i] lyrics, classical rock compositions [i] ... 

 and The Beatles The Beatles

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

, and was the precursor of the hippie Hippie

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

 generation.

At the time that the term was coined, there was a trend amongst young college students and struggling writers to emulate writers such as Kerouac and John Clellon Holmes. Emblematic of this new stereotype were men wearing 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, rolling their own cigarettes, and playing bongos. Fashions for women included black leotard Leotard

A leotard is a skin-tight [i] one-piece garment [i] that covers the torso and body but leaves the legs f ... 

s and wearing their hair long, straight and unadorned. This was a rebellion against the middle-class standards of the time which expected women to get permanent treatments Permanent wave

A permanent wave, commonly called a perm, is the chemical treatment of hair [i] to produce curls. ... 

 for their hair.

Participants in this subculture often preferred to drink wine Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage [i] produced by the fermentation [i] of the juice of fruit [i] ... 

, coffee Coffee

Coffee is a popular beverage prepared from the roasted seed [i]s of the coffee plant [i]. ... 

 or tea Tea

Tea is the second most popular beverage [i] in the world . ... 

 rather than more mainstream beverages such as beer or hard liquor Distilled beverage

A distilled beverage is a liquid preparation meant for consumption containing ethyl alcohol [i] purified ... 

. Marijuana Cannabis (drug)

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

 use was also associated with the beatnik subculture. During the 1950s, Aldous Huxley Aldous Huxley

Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English [i] writer [i] who emigrated to the United States [i]. ... 

's popular The Doors of Perception The Doors of Perception

'The Doors of Perception is a 1954 [i] book by Aldous Huxley [i] detailing his experiences when taking... 

further influenced beatnik views on drugs.

The beatnik philosophy was generally counter-cultural, anti-materialistic and stressed the importance of bettering one's inner self over and above the importance of bettering one's material standing in the world. Despite the attempts of several mainstream authors such as Caen to imply a connection with communism, there was no direct connection between the beatnik philosophy Beat generation

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

  and the philosophy of the communist movement Communism

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

, other than the antipathy that both philosophies shared towards capitalism. This connection is questionable because of the distinctly spiritual element of the beatnik philosophy, as contrasted with the anti-spiritual views in Marxist Marxism

Marxism refers to the philosophy [i] and social theory [i] based on Karl Marx [i]'s w ... 

 philosophy. For instance, some beatnik writers began to delve into Eastern religions such as Buddhism Buddhism

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

 or Taoism Taoism

Taoism is the English name for:The English word "Taoism" is used to translate the Chinese [i] ... 

.

Most beatnik politics tended to be liberal Liberalism

Liberalism is an ideology [i], philosophical view [i], and political tradition which holds that liberty [i] ... 

; many beatniks supported causes such as desegregation, and an openness to African-American African American

An African American is a member of an ethnic group [i] in the United States [i] whose ancestors, usual... 

 culture and arts is apparent in beatnik music and literature, such as their love of jazz Jazz

Jazz is an original American music [i]al art form originating around the start of the 20th century [i] ... 

. In this regard, beatniks were considerably ahead of their time given the often strained race relations in American society.

A classic example of the beatnik image is the character Maynard G. Krebs played by Bob Denver Bob Denver

Robert "Bob" Denver was an American [i] comedic actor [i] best known for his role as "Gill ... 

 in the Dobie Gillis The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was a situation comedy [i] which ran on CBS [i] from 1959 [i]... 

television show that ran from 1959 to 1963. The general beat stereotype also owed something to some of the popular film actors emerging during the early and mid 1950s who had youthful, adventurous, rebel images. A sensationalist Hollywood interpretation of the subculture can be seen in the 1959 film The Beat Generation The Beat Generation

The Beat Generation is a 1959 film [i] by MGM [i] starring Steve Cochran [i] ... 

, as well as The Subterraneans The Subterraneans

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

, based on Kerouac's novel, and scenes in Stanley Donen's Funny Face Funny Face

This article is about the musical film.... 

.

References


See also

  • Beat generation Beat generation

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

  • Cool

External link