Beat Movement: The Intersection between Old and Modern Poetry

From New York, USA 10025

The Beat Movement, also known as Beat Generation, all started from Columbia University, where Kerouac, Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, Hal Chase and others held their first meeting. Beat Generation was led by group of post World War II writers and poets, who experienced with drugs, sexuality, and Buddhism. Also the writers denied ideas of materialism but idealized their beings and beliefs through their books or poems; however, Beat Generation was not interested in politics.

The word "beat" originally came from word “weary,” but later "beat" connoted with a musical sense. The Beat Movement was also influenced strongly by jazz poetry and Harlem Renaissance. Followers of Beat Movements centered in Bohemian artist community in New York City and California. The Beat Poets strongly believed that poem should and could be read by ordinary people, who did not receive full education. So poets shifted their poems from academia to "backstreet" because poets wanted more people to enjoy their poems.

Though there are many reasons that affected Beat Movement, followers of Beat Generation were not fan of uniformity and materialism that took place after the World War II. Due to Highway systems and available priced cars, White men, when they finally returned back to home, and their families moved to suburbs and lived in houses that were similar to one another. People tried to live ideal life: white picket fence, grass, and 2.5 children with beautiful white; however, Beats did not found the standard dull and ridiculous. So Beat came up with terms, such as "square" (loser) or go "cut the grass", to mock the people who decided to choose unrealistic life style.

Beat Generation surely changed the view of poetry and influenced other movements. Since Beats believed that poems came spontaneously as stream of consciousness, they decided to perform their works in front of audience. They also included swearing, drug references, and jazz elements to express what they believed in. The way Beats performed and shared thoughts influenced other movements. The original form of rap music, the popular modern music genre, as well as rock music were greatly affected by ideas, stories, and poets by the Beats. At the end of Beat Generation, Hippies, with similar ideas, influenced people from other generation. Also the ideas that Beat Poets believed are still used throughout the modern poems.

Though people may confuse between Beats and Hippies, Beat Movement is the intersection between Old and Modern Poetry since Beats were one of actual movements to change how people view and interpret ideas that flow around the nations. Beat Generation, even though it officially ended, would remain alive and active within people's mind through its new forms, such as in Rap music, Rock music, or modern poetry.