The Muse of Discontent: Defining the Beat Generation during the Postwar Era

The Muse of Discontent: Defining the Beat Generation during the Postwar Era

            The Beat Generation was a term that referenced a portion of society during the postwar period rather than a whole generation. They were the discontented, the marginalized and rather romantic youth that was rebelling against the conformity prescribed by society. Most often associated with artistic types; poets, writers, film and painters they frequented the Times Square late night bars and cafeterias seeking to “define some kind of new vision of America” (Halberstam, 4:18). The primary characters within this movement were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Gregory Corso who used their unique style of prose and poetry to pen what many at the time considered to be “a threatening message” (Halberstam, 24:48).

            The origin of the term “beat” is often misattributed to have been derived from a musical source. Yes, there were jazz elements found within the cadences, tempos and spontaneity typical to the genre (more on that later). Ginsberg relates that Jack Kerouac began “picking up on” the term from his time spent hanging around Times Square in New York City. Some of the people he came across were “beat” meaning exhausted, worn out, or not wanting to be bothered. It was not to be physically beaten, nor was it the beating of drums. “It just meant emotionally and intellectually exhausted and wide open and maybe receptive to some new awareness” (Halberstam, 4:25-5:14). From this loose group of artist in one small geographical enclave was born an extraordinary movement that spread like wildfire among others who felt similarly discontented with postwar norms and expectations.

            Kerouac began to draw inspiration for his writing from the rhythms he heard in jazz music. He was particularly fond of saxophonist Charlie Parker and found that he could adapt the stylings of the music to his writing. “He wanted to be a jazz musician who played the typewriter” (Halberstam, 5:24). The parallels between beat writing and jazz music are many. There is the refusal of traditional conventions, the freedom to create in the moment without concern for what is expected or correct. Also, the tempos are quite similar. You can “hear” the driving cadences of jazz stylings when you read beat poetry like Ginsbeg’s “Howl.”

Works Cited

 Halberstam, David. The Fifties. The Beat. Vol. 5. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.             <https://bblearn.nau.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_127951    _1&content_id=_4568156_1>.