Beat Studies

"The Philosophy and Non-Philosophy of Potato Salad"

by f. scott scribner

This is a page proof preview for an article which will appear in the following edited collection: The Philosophy of the Beats, Ed., Sharin Elkoly, The University of Kentucky Press, 2012 (forthcoming).

Through a meditation on the discursive limits of the discipline of philosophy itself, as a microcosm of the very motor... more Through a meditation on the discursive limits of the discipline of philosophy itself, as a microcosm of the very motor of Western culture, this essay looks at the intimate dynamic between tradition and defiance, philosophy and non-philosophy, to assess the extent to which the experiential and performative acts of the beat generation can be said to be recoupable by the tradition and thus can be said to be a philosophy at all.

The Machined Word: The Medium As Message-Concept Transportation Entity

by Gregory O'Toole

O'Toole, Gregory. "The Machined Word." The International Journal of the Arts in Society, Vol 2, No. 3. ISSN 1833-1866. Common Ground Publishing. 2007.

Abstract: In this essay, the foundation is laid out for the basis of a media theory declaration that is an alternative... more Abstract: In this essay, the foundation is laid out for the basis of a media theory declaration that is an alternative view of Marshall McLuhan's mantra that the medium is the message. In the first part of this essay the alternative theory is stated, and holds that the medium is not necessarily the message, but that the medium is a message-concept transportation entity.

The second part of the essay contains the application of the theory, focusing on the process and the invention of the typewriter viewed through the critical lens of Freidrich Kittler, and the literary work of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs to project the applications of the theory stated in part one. The essay utilizes Freidrich Kittler's three-part model of media in perception, including Gramophone, Film, and Typewriter, resulting in a series of more complete and comprehensive musings on the axis of association that can be drawn between medium, message, and author in this respect.

Keywords: Media Studies, Literature, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter

Link: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.127.930&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Beatitude Golden Anniversary 1959-2009 Edited by Latif Harris and Neeli Cherkovski

by Chad Weidner

William Burroughs: "The Cat Inside"

by Chad Weidner

An entry about William Burroughs' "The Cat Inside"

Artaud in performance: dissident surrealism and the postwar American literary avant-garde

by Joanna Pawlik

Joanna Pawlik, (2010), 'Artaud in performance: dissident surrealism and the postwar American literary avant-garde,' Papers of Surrealism 8, pp 1 - 21.

This article seeks to give account of the influence of Antonin Artaud on the postwar American literary avant-garde,... more This article seeks to give account of the influence of Antonin Artaud on the postwar American literary avant-garde, paying particular attention to the way in which his work both on and in the theatre informed the Beat and San Francisco writers’ poetics of performance. Artaud was received enthusiastically by poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Michael McClure, and recruited as a posthumous ally in their distintive revolt against Cold War oppression, militarism, and conformity. They sourced, translated and distributed texts by Artaud during the 1950s and 1960s, ensuring he reached as wide an Anglophone audience as possible.

Kerouac and America on the Road to Postmodernism

by Cristina Felea