Beat Poets- Ginsberg and Burroughs

The Beat Movement

The Beat movement developed in the 1940s, mainly in New York City and San Francisco.  The Beat poets were men and some women who experienced the Great Depression, World War II, racial segregation and other social injustices.  They responded to the world they lived in by rebelling against conformity and advocating a change in the perception of the world. They often used hallucinogenic drugs, dressed in unconventional ways, meditated, and were involved in liberation movements.
Source:(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5646 )

Allen Ginsberg - Mugging

Allen Ginsberg and his friends Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs were some of the most influential Beat poets.  His writings were controversial (his publisher was arrested in San Francisco for publishing his famous book, Howl and Other Poems) but they were also regarded as powerful and revolutionary.  He had a hard life, marked with periods in prison and heavy drug use. He was influenced by other writers, such as William Carlos Williams who taught him the style of writing the way people actually think and speak, with natural pauses for breath. He was actively involved in anti-war demonstrations (and was arrested multiple times) and coined the term "flower-power." Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/allen-ginsberg

Theme: Spirituality

     Common themes of Ginsberg’s writings (and Beat work in general) were politics and spirituality.  Since spirituality can be seen in the piece, Mugging, we will focus on that.

Buddhism had a major influence on Beats writers.  The meditative mindset can be seen in the narrator of the Mugging.  Buddhism stresses awareness of surroundings and detachment to physical possessions.  In the beginning of the piece, the narrator is reflecting on the sights he sees daily.  He finds beauty in the ordinary.  He is aware of nearly everything around him and yet he does not sense his attackers’ bad intentions.  He observes the “young fellows with their umbrella handles and canes” but he does not suspect that they will use the objects as weapons against him.   As the narrator is being attacked he repeats “Om Ah Hum.” This mantra is associated with the purification of the body, speech, and mind. 

(om-ah-hum.com)

     In the second part of the piece you get a sense of the commonality of mugging in the way people reacted when he went for help.  No one is shocked.  Despite the number of people the narrator described the minutes before he was mugged, no one admits to seeing anything.   Witnesses are too afraid to speak up about what they saw. When the police arrive, they follow procedure and do the minimum: they briefly check the ground for his wallet and ask the victim to fill out a form.  Life goes on. 

Setting: East 10th Street

(image of present day East 10th Street from Google maps)

 

William Burroughs- Background

William S. Burroughs is another famous Beat poet. He lived from 1914-1997 and had many interesting experiences throughout his lifetime.  As a child, Burroughs grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and came from a wealthy family.  From a young age Burroughs knew that he was homosexual, but did his best to hide it until later in his life.  After high school Burroughs attended Harvard University for English literature.  He travelled a lot and looked into the homosexual cultures of places like New York, Austria, and Hungary.  It was on his journeys that he met his first wife who he would later divorce.  When Burroughs returned back to America he joined the Army, but was ultimately unhappy and had his mother get him released.  After being released he met his second wife, Joan Vollmer, and a man named Herbert Hunke who would play a large role in his book Junky and introduce him to drugs.  Junky put Burroughs on the map as a talented writer, but at the same time it made the police aware of his illegal activities involving heroin.  He was constantly on the move to avoid getting in trouble with authorities, especially after shooting his second wife in the head.  Burroughs’s life was messy, but many of the events in it became topics for his writings.   In 1997 his life came to an end after dying of a heart attack. 

Source: (http://www.egs.edu/library/william-burroughs/biography/)

Character Descriptions in Junky

Source: http://www.clt-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/120422_103rdStreet_1280.jpg

 

The excerpt that we read written by William Burroughs came from his book Junky.  Ginsberg pushed Burroughs to write it because he saw Burroughs’s potential.  The book primarily focuses on his time as a heroin addict and drug dealer.  In the beginning of the excerpt, Burroughs describes the location that the “oldtime” junkies revolved around. 103rd street and Broadway was a prime location for them because it was very busy.  Throughout the excerpt Burroughs talks about the junkies that work the street and the way a drug deal goes down. A quick description of each character can be seen as follows:

“Irish”- Drug peddler, fifty years old but looked thirty, “Irish face”, unreliable

“George the Greek”- Kind, went to jail for 3 years, won’t be a pusher anymore, arbiter, usually sick, his face bore marks of a constant losing fight, disappeared
 

“Joe the Mex”- Lined and ravage face but not old looking, bright and young eyes, a liar

“Louie the Bellhop”- Shoplifter, wore long shabby overcoats, disliked by George

“Fritz the Janitor”- Pale thin little man, acted crippled, spent 5 years in prison, dope peddler

“The Fag”- Successful drug dealer, always on top of things, top lush-worker, made homosexual passes, dressed well in tweed sports coats and gray flannels, European charm, envied

There are many symbolic elements in Burroughs’s writing.  For example in the second paragraph he uses the terms “haunts” and “ghost” when referencing heroin suggesting that drugs are something that follow you for life.  He also makes many references to nationalities as well as age and appearance.  Each of these things is important to Burroghs’s message and is why the descriptions of the characters are so important.  Additional ideas behind this will be addressed in the questions below! 

Source: http://ginsbergblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/william-s-burroughs-junky-canadian-tv.html

This is an interview with Burroughs that talks about his life.

This is an interview with Burroughs that talks about Junky and his opinion on drugs.

 

 

Here is a link to listen to Burroughs read our section of Junky!

 

Questions:
 

1) Why do you think Ginsberg wrote this piece? Do you think he did a good job in explaining what it feels like to be mugged or did the narrator perceive things and respond in a way most people would not?

 
2) Did Ginsberg introduce the setting well?  Did you feel like you were there?  What kind of descriptions stood out to you?

 
3) What effect does the point of view of the poem have on the reader? 

 
4) What kind of structure does the poem have?  Do the spelling and grammar errors enhance the poem in any way?
 
5) What is the significance of appearance in Burroughs’s descriptions of the junkies? How do they compare to one another and how are they different?  How do you think Burroughs’s appearance in the interview correlates to the emphasis that he places on appearance in this section?

6) Throughout the excerpt Burroughs refers to the men as “oldtime junkies”.  If this is the case then why is it significant that he describes some as having young faces when talking about their appearances?

7) After watching part of the clip were you surprised by Burroughs sense of humor?  Can this humor be seen in his writing style?  Why or why not?
 
8) Why does Burroughs constantly reference nationality in this piece?  Do you think that his travels had any influence on these perceptions?  Explain the quote, “They were of various nationalities and physical types, but they all looked alike somehow. They all looked like junk”.  How does Burroughs personify junk?
 
9) In the other interview of Burroughs he explains how he doesn’t feel that using drugs is a bad thing.  What is your opinion on this?  Do you think that good writing must come from personal experience?
 
10) What similarities, if any, can you see in the pieces written by Ginsberg and Burroughs?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harlem Poets and Writers

The Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as the Great Migration, was a massive movement of African Americans from the Deep South to Harlem, New York. The movement began around 1890, shortly after the abolition of slavery in the United States. The installment of the Jim Crowe laws along with the uprising of numerous hate groups in the South encouraged many African American to relocate to the North. Many African Americans found themselves segregated into urban slums. The largest was Harlem. Many found that they shared similar experiences while being enslaved, and as a result, they embraced their heritage and a cultural eruption ensued. The result was the emergence of jazz music, ragtime music, writers, poets and actors, all of whom, for the first time, embraced their African American heritage.

Source: http://www.ushistory.org/us/46e.asp

                Claude McKay was born in Jamaica 1889. By 1912, he had already published a book of verses called the Songs of Jamaica. He then traveled to the United States where he attended both Tuskegee Institute and Kansas State University (“Claude McKay,” 1). McKay later wrote on issues concerning the political and social injustice that the African American population faced (“Claude McKay,” 1). He also wrote extensively about his homeland in Jamaica (“Claude McKay,1”). In the 1920s McKay traveled abroad to Russia and France to study communism (“Cladue McKay,” 1). In 1934, he returned to the United States and moved to Harlem, New York where he continued to write for the remainder of his life “Claude McKay,”1). McKay’s writing in the early years of the Harlem Renaissance helped to set the tone for many writers and poets of the great movement.

Source: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/25

               In the Tropics of New York, McKay is reminiscing about the beauty of his homeland. He longs to be under the blue skies and fruit trees of Jamaica once again. As he looks out the window, he realizes that New York is no paradise. It does not contain the vibrant colors and beautiful sounds of the tropics. The realization brings him to tears, for he does not hunger for the sweet fruit of the trees, but his homeland itself.

               In The Harlem Dancer, McKay begins by describing the lavish Harlem night clubs. The prostitute dances as young men watch and applaud. Though her job seems harsh, her voice is compared to a soft flute. He also adds a picnic day to his description, which is completely opposite of the night club. His other comparison is to a palm tree, “grown lovelier for passing through the storm.” This suggests that she is very strong as has most likely gained this strength due to the hardships of her job. The end of the poem brings a reality to the night club. The prostitute is objectified and is truly a victim.  

James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1871 (“James Weldon Johnson,” 1).  At a fairly young age, he attended Atlanta University and became a principal in Jacksonville for a few years (“James Weldon Johnson,” 1). He moved to New York in 1901 to work with his brother as a composer, where he became a songwriter for Broadway (“James Weldon Johnson,” 1). Soon thereafter, Johnson became a civil rights activist for the NAACP. He also acted as a diplomatic consul to both Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Source: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/72

In his novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Johnson follows the life on an African American man who faces the issue of racial identity in the time of the Harlem Resonance. The description that Johnson gives of New York City is one which is beautiful on the surface, yet hidden beneath this beauty lies corruption and injustice. In this small excerpt, the narrator gives a detailed description of his first night in New York. He describes his experience at two different apartment clubs, which he tours with a group of young men. The first was a home that had been converted into a bar. It is here that the narrator has his first experience with gambling. He describes how he initially had no interests in the game, yet upon winning first game, he gained an intoxicating thrill from his actions. He described how such feelings were what led men to become addicted to the game. This inevitably led many men to lose all of their possession. He hints that, over time, he was consumed by this game as well. The second home the group visited had been converted into a night club. The narrator was elated with the idea of the glitz and glimmer of this New York lifestyle. The narrator spends a great deal of time discussing ragtime music, which was playing in the club. This form of music was novel at the time of the Renaissance. He describes the musicians as immensely talented, yet despite all of their talent, this genre was often ignored by many, especially the Caucasians. In Johnson’s words “The fact is, nothing great or enduring, especially in music, has ever sprung full-fledged and unprecedented from the brain of any master” (Johnson, 394).  In his final words, Johnson describes Harlem as having the same unrest as the ragtime music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFeF_yFtssk

Langston Hughes, a poet and playwright and writer of the Harlem Renaissance, was first recognized during this time. He was born in Joplin, Missouri, and eventually moved to Mexico with his father. At just thirteen, he moved to Illinois, to live with his mother who then settled in Cleveland, Ohio. He acquired many jobs, including an assistant cook, launderer, and busboy while studying in Columbia University in New York City. In 1924, he moved to Washington D.C. and wrote his first book of poetry called The Weary Blues. In Lincoln, Pennsylvania, he finished his college career and wrote his first novel, which won the Harmon Gold Medal for literature.

Source: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83

In one of his autobiographies, The Big Sea, Hughes provides a summary of his experience in this era and the distinction between blacks and whites at this time. He describes the shows, music, and African culture that were signature to Harlem, which, at the time, was a place untouched by tourists and the rest of society. Hughes then describes the impact the whites had on this culture. The white patronage at Harlem clubs was typically received happily by owners, but blacks did not feel they were welcome. According to Hughes, once the white tourists began to discover the night clubs, entertainment shifted to appeal to them, and African culture lost its authenticity. As he states, “The old magic of the woman and the piano and the night and the rhythm being one is gone,” (Hughes, 634). This was also true for writers, as they began to focus their literature on amusing white people. In order to avoid tourists, he spent weekends at house-rent parties, which were becoming very popular at the time. According to Hughes they were more amusing than any night club in town.

In addition to a changing Harlem society, Hughes describes how the Negro Renaissance was not as extravagant as it seemed, and people often had the wrong idea about it. The negroes themselves had not even heard of this renaissance. 

              

Discussion Questions:

1.      How does McKay’s poem, The Tropics of New York, imply what New York City may have looked like in reality? How does this contrast with the fantastic descriptions of New York during the Roaring Twenties?

2.      Is the prostitute the only victim in the night club? Who else may have been a victim?

3.      Johnson states, “The fact is, nothing great or enduring, especially in music, has ever sprung full-fledged and unprecedented from the brain of any master” (Johnson, 394). Do you think that Johnson is not only describing ragtime music, but the equality of African Americans during this time as well?

4.      Johnson describes New York City by stating, “She sits like a great witch at the gate of the country, showing her alluring white face and hiding her crooked hands and feet under the folds of her wide garments (Johnson, 487). What corruption could he possibly be referring to? How does this description relate to the mindset during the Harlem Renaissance?

5.      Hughes describes how “everything goes, one way or another.” The 20’s are gone and Harlem lost its unique charm when it became a commercial place for tourists. Does this still happen today? Where are some examples?

6.      How do the feelings the American Americans had towards the whites compare to today? Do you think that African Americans still believe that their cultural explosion was suppressed by Caucasians?