The Spiritual Imagination of the Beats

Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-108-41645-0
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 244 Seiten, Format (B × H): 158 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 235 g

The Spiritual Imagination of the Beats is the first comprehensive study to explore the role of esoteric, occult, alchemical, shamanistic, mystical and magical traditions in the work of eleven major Beat authors. The opening chapter discusses Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan as predecessors and important influences on the spiritual orientation of the Beats. David Stephen Calonne draws comparisons throughout the book between various approaches individual Beat writers took regarding sacred experience - for example, Burroughs had significant objections to Buddhist philosophy, while Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac both devoted considerable time to studying Buddhist history and texts. This book also focuses on authors who have traditionally been neglected in Beat Studies - Diane di Prima, Bob Kaufman, Philip Lamantia and Philip Whalen. In addition, several understudied work such as Gregory Corso's 'The Geometric Poem' - inspired by Corso's deep engagement with ancient Egyptian thought - are given close attention. Calonne introduces important themes from the history of heterodoxy - from Gnosticism, Manicheanism and Ismailism to Theosophy and Tarot - and demonstrates how inextricably these ideas shaped the Beat literary imagination.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Calonne, David Stephen

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. San Francisco Renaissance: Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan; 2. Visionary poiesis, hidden religions: Diane di Prima; 3. In the search for meaning, in reaching for the pure relation: Bob Kaufman; 4. American road, Buddha Path: Jack Kerouac; 5. Cosmic vibration breakthrough: Allen Ginsberg; 6. Nothing is true, everything is permitted: William S. Burroughs; 7. An astrologer dabbling in dragon prose: Gregory Corso; 8. Nothing but the marvelous: Philip Lamantia; 9. Exaltations, highs and strange knowledges: Philip Whalen; 10. Mountains and rivers without end: Gary Snyder.

Über Autor(innen)

Calonne, David Stephen
David Stephen Calonne is the author of William Saroyan: My Real Work Is Being (1983), Bebop Buddhist Ecstasy: Saroyan's Influence on Kerouac and the Beats (2010), with an Introduction by Lawrence Ferlinghetti; and literary biographies of Charles Bukowski and Henry Miller. He has also edited several volumes of fiction and essays by Bukowski. Calonne has lectured at the European University in Florence; Columbia University, New York; University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University, Massachusetts; and the University of Oxford, and has taught at the University of Texas, the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago. He presently lives in Ann Arbor and teaches at Eastern Michigan University.