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Jack Kerouac: A Beat Generation Icon

Explore the life, influence, and literary works of Jack Kerouac, the iconic figure of the Beat Generation. Discover his journey, the impact of his writing, and the lasting legacy of his unique style and language.

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Jack Kerouac: A Beat Generation Icon

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  1. “Where are we going, man?” “I don’t know but we gotta go.” Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) Jack Kerouac

  2. Jack Kerouac 1. Life • Born in Lowel, Massachusetts in 1922. • Educated at Columbia University. • At the end of WWII, he began travelling across the States. Jack Kerouac. Only Connect ... New Directions

  3. Jack Kerouac 1. Life • In New York he met the intellectual Neal Cassidy, the poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist William Borroughs. • After his hitch-hiking across America with Cassidy, he wrote the novel On The Road(1957). Jack Kerouac. Only Connect ... New Directions

  4. Jack Kerouac 1. Life • Frightened by his popularity, he became more and more addicted to alcohol. • His novel Big Sur(1962) contains an account of the disintegration of all his hopes. • He died in 1969 at the age of forty-seven. Jack Kerouac. Only Connect ... New Directions

  5. Jack Kerouac 2. The term “Beat Generation” • Invented by Kerouac in 1948. • Introduced to the public by an article on “New York Times Magazine”. • Beat = 1. tired reaction against capitalism and Puritan middle-class values. 2. beatific Kerouac’s reverence for certain aspects of Catholicism and Buddhism. A beatnik rock’n’roll compilation Only Connect ... New Directions

  6. Jack Kerouac 3. The beatniks... • Suffix -nik borrowed from Sputnik, a Russian satellite. • Their main features: illegal way of life, acting on first impulses. • They advocated escapism and created underground culture. A group of Beatniks, 1950s. Only Connect ... New Directions

  7. Jack Kerouac 4. ...and their influence upon artistic movements • Spiritual and sexual liberation. • Liberation from censorship. • Decriminalizationof the use of marijuana. • The evolution of rhythm and blues into rock and roll. The Hip, a 1986 book about the Beat Generation Only Connect ... New Directions

  8. Jack Kerouac 4. ...and their influence upon artistic movements • The spread of ecological consciousness. • Attention to a “second religiousness”. • Respect for land and indigenous peoples and creatures “The Earth is an Indian thing”. The Hip, a 1986 book about the Beat Generation Only Connect ... New Directions

  9. JackKerouac 5. On the Road “Because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, (..) the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars” A contemporary edition of On the Road. Only Connect ... New Directions

  10. Story of a friendship. Diary-like account of Kerouac’s wanderings across North America. It lacks a central plot episodic structure. Theme of the journey an escape from the town and from one’s own past. Jack Kerouac 6. On the Road: structure A contemporary edition of On the Road. Only Connect ... New Directions

  11. Jack Kerouac 6. On the Road: structure • Sal (the narrator) stands for Kerouachimself. • Dean stands for Kerouac’s friend Neal Cassidy. • Sal and Dean are linked to the same restlessness. • They keep on moving without a fixed goal. A contemporary edition of On the Road. Only Connect ... New Directions

  12. Jack Kerouac 7. On the Road: Dean Moriarty, the protagonist • A fictionalisedNeal Cassidy. • He lives for “kicks”  moments of intense experience and pleasure. • He is the symbol of the attempt to live every moment with intensity. “Ahead of him was the ragged and ecstatic joy of pure being” Neil Cassidy and Jack Kerouac Only Connect ... New Directions

  13. Spontaneous and episodic. Natural explosion of feelings and thoughts. Unsophisticated language, defined “hip talk”. Vital, authentic, alive and individual language. Opposite to conventional language. Break with the impersonality of the artist. Jack Kerouac 8. On the Road: style and language Only Connect ... New Directions

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