The Beat generation

Abstract

In this paper author tries to examine a literary phenomenon known as “The Beat Generation”
that emerged in the United States of America after the Second World War. It is important to place
every cultural phenomenon into the context of times in which it emerged and that fact also applies
to writings of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, the seminal figures of “The
Beat Generation”, which is why the paper also contains a brief summary of the most important
political and cultural events in the USA in 1950’s. In order to understand why the work of “The Beat
Generation” was subversive in the post-war American society, the reader is provided with many
examples from the texts written by Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs. This paper is divided into
following chapters: 1. Political circumstances in the USA in the 1950’s; 2. Characteristics of the
American society in the 1950’s; 3. Cultural events in the 1950’s USA; 4. Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg
& William S. Burroughs – short biographies; 5. The rebellion of “The Beat Generation” against
political and societal circumstances in the 1950’s USA; 6. The influence of “The Beat Generation” in
popular culture.