AMCULT 208 1st Edition Lecture 14 Outline of Last Lecture I. Golden Age of Hip Part 2Outline of Current Lecture II. The White Negro ReturnsIII. Redemption and America IV. Golden Age of Hip Part 2.Current LectureThe White Negro Returns: preoccupation with negro culture- The bomb as artistic matrix: weapon that can wipe out the entirety of the planet, have the psychological fallout of thato The beats were aware of the power of this angst Internal crisis, keeps you lying awake at night, eats at your soulo Great art has passion and angst Passion and angst are so enveloping and consuming that you cannot have one without the othero Beat writers and bop musicians realized the capricious nature of the world, and watched it become more unpredictable through the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki It is the job of artists in society to inform us and to reflect the world around us so these artists created work that was consciously unreasonableo They believed that everyone could see this but were just afraid to go there So many things that we do and don’t do in life are dictated on our belief ofwhether or not we could do that The beats believed it was their job to speak for the unspokenArt as Unreason- If you find yourself in a world that is increasingly capricious and uncertain, create work that celebrates the jagged moment of experience o Is intuitive rather than rationalo Moves on as soon as people start to catch up To avoid art becoming staticThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- One of the reasons the musicians created bop was because the restrictions of the composed swing materialo They wanted to be in the same place and situation as their audience, never knowing exactly what might come next.- The writers saw this as releasing “unspeakable visions of the individual”Beats in Hindsight (and it isn’t 20-20)- Hindsight is never 20-20. Biased. You’re not there anymore. You have changed, the circumstances have changed, the context has changed.o As soon as you try to look back at something, it’s not going to be the sameWhat do you think of Leland’s description: “a group of intellectuals who considered themselves a despised minority”They self-defined themselves over and over again in the writing.The Beat Rebellion was probably about the sheer juvenile fun of saying “screw you” to society- A group of guys who never really grew up- A bunch of white middle class malesWomen and the Beat Generation- The context of the times: o Increased consumerismo Political repressiono McCarthy = witch hunts = execution of Rosenberg’so Sexual contradictions Masturbation caused insanity Premarital sex was immoral Half of women were married by 19o Playboy began in 1950, bikini was invented- Women and the Education Paradoxo Women went to college in record numbers after WWI,o But were sent there to meet husbands (MrS Degree)o Women who had taken the place of men in the labor force during the war were now expected tp truly fit in as “proper wives”- Ideal wife: o Someone who is cultured but stays at homeo Someone who is creative but uses that for the home and children- Perfect degree: liberal artsWhat’s in it for me?- This was the time of great commodification and to whom were the products marketed?o Radio and early television invented the “soap opera”The Beat Men Respond- Ginsberg’s view was that: “social organization that is most true of itself to the artist is the boy gang.”- The writers who were getting all the attention were men, as were their influencesThe Role of Women to the Beats:- Women were relegated to observer status- Sexual surrogates- At best a peripheral interestWomen of the Beat generation were usually defined in one of 4 ways (in declining importance)1. Providers2. Muses3. Writers4. Artists in their own rightWomen as Rebels“In the 50s, if you were male, you could be a rebel. But if you were female your families had youlocked up” –Gregory Corso- There was no gray areao Either you were a virgin or a whoreo And if you wanted to be adventurous, you were categorized as lesbianWomen “were” Beat- Even within the Beat community women could not find a new place. They became wives and mothers, only in a more chaotic and rebellious framework.- Women entered Beat culture through