Modernism:
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats?
ReplyDeleteThe beat generation emerged from San Francisco’s literary counterculture in the 1950s. According to the Poetry Foundation (n.d.) notable poets included Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso and Gary Snyder. The development of the beat aesthetic was influenced by Kenneth Rexroth, a poet and essayist. This style of poetry "rejected academic formalism and the materialism and conformity of the American middle class" (Poetry Foundation (n.d)
The term 'beats' and 'beat generation' were coined by Jack Kerouac in 1948 to characterise a perceived underground, anti-conformist youth movement in New York. It was meant to describe how the poets "felt beat down, defeated and out of place among the returning soldiers and businessmen" (Calareso, n.d.).
Before the beats there were the Modernists like T. S. Elliot whose style of writing and aesthetic the beats despised. To them, writers like Eliot "represented the establishment, tradition and adherence to form. His writing was very much divorced from the intimate and emotion" (Calareso, n.d.). In comparison the work of Ginsberg is more cathartic, it appears reckless and intensely personal and emotional.
Of course this style of writing didn't originate with the beats. Many beat poets cited Romantics like Percy Shelley and William Blake as inspirations for their work and the development of the beat aesthetic. According to Calareso (n.d.) the Romantics had rebelled against the intellectualism of the Enlightenment. By the 1950s, the pendulum had swung back towards the intellectual and the Beats moved it back toward the personal.
Most be poets wrote under the influence of a number of different drugs including alcohol, marijuana, benzedrine and morphine. This usage was heavily inspired by intellectual interest and many beat writers felt their drug experiences enhanced creativity and insight, influencing how they wrote their work (Wikipedia, n.d.).
A common characteristic of beat poetry is the utilisation of free verse. Free verse is an open form of poetry, that does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern. Poems composed in free verse often tend to follow the rhythm of natural speech, allowing for more emotion and a personal touch, rather than having to follow a higher set of standards for writing poetry like other movements might follow.
References:
Calareso, J. (n.d.). The beat generation: Characteristics of beat poetry. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-beat-generation-characteristics-of-beat-poetry.html
Poetry Foundation. (n.d.). Beat poets. Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms/detail/beat-poets
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Beat Generation. Retrieved June 7, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Generation
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DeleteGood point, but I just think the answer is quite vague...Personally, I felt like you are more likely to introduce it? Maybe you should clearly states "what are the common qualities of beats and why"in the few paragraphs, like to explain it? Because some of it I don't quite understand your points as you cited from someone's work...I argue with the beat poetry can be a good way to express the emotions as being an open form of poetry. Just like how it linked to rap, it was easy and catchy to express the feelings in a maybe humorous and interesting way? For me, I think the common qualities are more than that: they shared the same beat cultures like sexuality, drugs etc. And I think they don’t mince words when they critic the policies and Government.
DeleteHow is beat poetry linked to rap?
ReplyDeleteBeat poetry evolved in the 1940s in America, it was invented by the Beat Generation – a group of writers who changed consciousness and defying conventional writing. The “Beat” is originally used to describe “tried” and “beaten down”, but Kerouac changed the meaning to be “upbeat” and “beatific”, that is how the “on the beat” in the music coming form.
Beat poetry usually recited as oral forms, the themes of the poetry mainly focus on complaining censorship and promotes sexual freedom for black, women, homosexuals and Native Americans. This kind of the poetry raised the awareness of ecology and possibly helped with the musical beat of jazz in oral recitation. This influenced the songs of Bob Dylan, the Beatles. One song of Bob Dylan (Positively 4th Street) was really famous, Dylan cleverly abused the suppositional “you” in the song, and Dylan was abusing the American songs. After 20 or some years after, there was a new genre of rap came up. The singer abuse the opponent in the rap, and the opponent to write another one to abuse back. This is kind of to compete who can rap it more clever. Sometimes people enjoy the verbal fighting between the rapper and find it interesting.
The rap music emerged in the 1970s, the Bronx and Harlem mixed melodies from existing songs with poetry lyrics. The street fights inspired the rap music and rap lyrics usually associates with drugs, alcohol, homosexuality, feminism, and freedom. The rap and the beat poetry, both were likely to combine with dissatisfaction of the conservative society to talk about the social and political issues, just like cited What Is Beat Poetry, “Beat Poetry laments the loss of personal values and faith, and promotes the belief that modern life is spiritually empty” (n, d).
Not only the content of rap music and beat poetry are similar, on the other hand, the form of both rap music and poetry are similar at the same time. The rhythm such as iambic pentameter, the pattern of repetition of a vowel sound or consonant sound and the similar sound of word etc. All of this is to make the poetry and rap catchy and possibly make it easy to remember.
However, as I said earlier about how rapper uses different approach cleverly to provoke the opponent is still alive now. For example, if you go YouTube on “Snow White VS ELSA: Princess Rap Battle (Whitney Avalon ft. Katja Glieson)”, I think you will get what I mean by “abuse” to an opponent.
The link below is to the video of rap battle on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcrQvoCzs80
References:
A Brief Guide to the Beat Poets. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2017, from http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-beat-poets
What Is Beat Poetry? (n.d.). wiseGEEK. Retrieved June 9, 2017, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-beat-poetry.htm
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Beat Generation. Retrieved June 9, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Generation
Post-Modernism
ReplyDelete2. How is beat poetry linked to rap?
The link between Beats poetry and rap is visible in the delivery method and cause, both originating for the same purpose. The derivation of rap is linked to have began in Africa where stories of local events were told with hand instruments in the background, this oral tradition was called Griots (Mize, 2014). Rap evolved in the 1970’s as a street art, later becoming an official genre in 1979 with Sugarhill gang’s song “Rappers Delight” (Plasticlittleraps, n.d.). Rap similar to its origin, Griots, is chanting of rhythmic lyrics usually accompanied by a beat, a “sophisticated style of poetry” (Plasticlittleraps, n.d.). Rap lyrics often involves sex and highlighting of social political issues much like beats poetry. The Beats group originated in 1950’s with two core motives, one to dislodge themselves from the material hold of society the other to dissolve themselves from prudery of the older generation (Rahn, 2011).
The Beats, like rap, included poetry being told with music in the background. Their poetry was read out loud accompanied by jazz music, the Beats generation also “launched the cultural innovation of fusing jazz, rock and roll, and bebop” into the way poetry is written using beats (Ibda, 2014).
Beats poetry and rap are also linked by the similar kind of people who participated in the art form. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998) the Beats generation indulged in drugs, sex, jazz and zen as tools to heighten their sensory awareness. This drug culture and sexual exploitation is the same for the rap generation.
Another minor link is the evolution of the words “Beat” and “Rap”. Both words began with a hostile backing, beat referred to someone getting beaten/ beaten up and rap was a sharp blow. Over time each word was associated with music, beat as in beat of the music and rap, progressed from utter suddenly and forcibly to “a rhythmic chanting often in unison of usually rhymed couplets to a musical accompaniment” (Merriam Webster, n.d.).
To conclude, the link between Beats and rap can clearly be seen through the similar combination of lyrical content (sex and politics), style of delivery and accompanied by beats in the background. Both words also evolved in a similar manner from aggressive to musical. Also, both originated from rebellion, used as a tool to liberate society, to change the world by bringing notice to a situation.
References:
Mize, C. (Sep 23, 2014). History of rap – The true origins of rap music. Retrieved from http://colemizestudios.com/how-did-rap-start/
Plasticlittleraps. (n.d.). History of rap music. Retrieved from http://www.plasticlittleraps.com/history-of-rap-music.html
Rahn, J. (2011). The beat generation. Retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com/periods/beat.php
Ibda, F., W. (Apr, 2014). Allen Ginsberg's Howl Chants Jazz: An Aesthetic Cultural Twinning. Modern Literature League, 88, 39-63.
Merriam Webster. (n.d.). Rap. Retrieved June 06, 2017 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rap
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998). Beat movement. Retrieved June 06, 2017 from https://www.britannica.com/art/Beat-movement
How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
ReplyDeleteAmerican folk music was very popular during the 1960's as well as protests against the Vietnam War and for the Civil Rights Movement. The 'hippie' culture emerged and protest songs mainly promoting peace and equal rights ("Protest songs in the United States", 2017). However, Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' is not a pacifist song that promotes peach and unity, but rather a song that condemns the people who are responsible for war and the soldiers that die on the battlefield. "Unlike other Bob Dylan’s odes to peace, this emblematic song misses that sense of forgiveness, in fact the author appoints these masters of war with anything but respect saying: “And I hope that you die/ And your death’ll come soon” (Words in the Bucket Team, 2015).
However, Bob Dylan said 'Masters of War' was supposed to be a pacifist song, not an anti-war song. Here is a quote:
"Unfortunately, people have been led down the wrong path by quasi-intellectuals who never really get the cultural spirit in the air when these songs are performed," he says.
Masters of War, for instance, "is supposed to be a pacifistic song against war. It's not an anti-war song. It's speaking against what Eisenhower was calling a military industrial complex as he was making his exit from the presidency. That spirit was in the air, and I picked it up." (Gundersen, 2001)
Dylan does condemn the people (and institutions) responsible for pushing an aggressive, undemocratic war (the so-called 'military-industrial complex') but not the soldiers who have to do the actual fighting. The 'masters' are not the soldiers but, rather, the generals and politicians who send them to die in an unnecessary war and the industrialists who profit from war-making.
The song was involved in controversy during the 1990's at the Grammy Awards where Dylan received the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was during the time of The Gulf war and "Protesting war was an old thing that old people used to do. So Dylan and his band did the annoying thing and played a violent version of his protest song “Masters of War,” loudly making the point that protest does not play with popularity." (Mark Aldrich, 2015). Dylan performed the song again at Madison Square Garden after Bush declared a second war against Iraq. Then again during the 2004 elections (Marcus, 2006). This lead to the controversy regarding high school students from Boulder High School who allegedly threatened Bush, who was president at the time (ABC News, 2004). "The students said they worried about war, a return of the draft and the future of the environment after the election in which they could not participate." Although it was said that their song was not aimed towards Bush, it is understandable to see why some may interpret it in that way.
If Dylan performed the song in 2004, when George W. Bush was running for re-election and the second Iraq war was still underway, then I would say it almost certainly was aimed at Bush and his 'masters of war' (secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, vice-president Dick Cheney, and others). The first Gulf war (led by Bush's father when he was president in the 1990s) was over quickly and was fought ostensibly to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi aggression. The second Iraq war was fought for no good reason and dragged on for more than a decade. It is still not really over.
ReplyDeleteEven though Masters of War may be seen as a controversial song, it is still relevant today and will continue to be relevant as long as war exists. It causes people to open their eyes and see that war is real and that many innocent people die for their countries.
References
Aldrich, M. (2017). Dylan Stumps the Grammys. The Gad About Town. Retrieved from https://thegadabouttown.com/2015/05/24/dylan-stumps-the-grammys/
Gundersen, E. (2001). USATODAY.com - Dylan is positively on top of his game. Usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved from https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/2001-09-10-bob-dylan.htm#more
Marcus, G. (2006). Threepenny: Stories of a Bad Song. Threepennyreview.com. Retrieved from http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/marcus_w06.html
News, A. (2004). School Talent Show Draws Secret Service. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=247437&page=1
Protest songs in the United States. (2017). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest_songs_in_the_United_States#1960s:_The_Civil_Rights_Movement.2C_Vietnam_War.2C_and_Peace_and_Revolution
Team, W. (2015). I Can See Through Your Masks. Words in the Bucket. Retrieved from https://www.wordsinthebucket.com/i-can-see-through-your-masks-explaining-bob-dylan-masters-of-war
Post Modernism. Question 4: On what grounds was ‘Howl’ accused of being obscene – grounds for the defence?
ReplyDelete‘Howl’ is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg and was read during a poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco 1955, where Ginsberg read Howl for the first time. Howl is seen as one the most definite highpoints of the Beat movement. Through Ginsberg’s eyes we are given an uncensored telling of what passed through the forties and onwards. (Jonnson, n.d). Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a colleague of Ginsberg who sold and promoted Howl, was arrested for the poem involving obscene sexual language and content.
Howl gained popularity and attention through the obscenity case, as it was deemed inappropriate and banned from libraries due to its mention of drug use, sexual actions (homosexualty) and sexual language. Those who were against Howl and its content were people of religion and parents. This led to many protests between people, more specifically highlighting the war between the hippie movement and the establishment. (Shaut, 2015). One side of the American people agreed with the authorities and censors, arguing that there are limits to what a man can do. (Jonnson, n.d). The uncensored language and content within Ginsberg’s poem is clear in these lines:
“With dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares, alcohol and cock and endless balls.” (pg.222).
“Who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy.” (pg.223).
These are two of the several references towards homosexuality that those against Howl took offence to with its uncensored language and content. Ginsberg’s openness and plainness caused moral outrage among the conservative American’s in the 1950’s but also inspired courage to those masking there true selves within the American society. The poem goes into detail of the realities of life on the streets of San Francisco, where Ginsberg was from, of those who didn’t conform or fit into the American middle class life with mentions of poverty, sickness and drug abuse. (Hansen, 2011).
The other side supported the ideal’s Howl explicitly discusses as they fought for each American’s freedom of speech. Howl was seen to promote non-conformity and sexual freedom and in turn criticizing materialism, militarism, consumerism and conformity. It was a political criticism of all the values promoted by mainstream 1950’s America. (Shaut, 2015).
The defenders of Ginsberg’s poem eventually won out and the case was dropped. Howl can be seen as the defining moment in American history where uncensored, honest and unconventional stories, music and media is inspired from. The harsh and honest realities in society laid bare.
“A word on the Academies: poetry has been attacked by an ignorant and frightened bunch of bores who don’t understand how it’s made, and the trouble with these creeps is that they wouldn’t know poetry if it came up and buggered them in broad daylight.” (Ginsberg, n.d).
References:
Ginsberg, A. (1956). Howl and other poems. United States: City Lights Books.
Hansen, T. (2011). Ginsberg’s Howl Against Capitalism. Retrieved from http://www.marxist.com/ginsbergs-howl-against-capitalism.htm
Jonnson, L. (n.d). HOWL – Analysis and Discussion. Retrieved from http://www.sonoloco.com/txt/howl/howlenglish.html
Shaut, S. [Screen Name]. (2015, April 15). Analysis of Howl. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjE3QgLe6nk