Hip Sublime: Beat Writers and the Classical Tradition Contributor(s): Murnaghan, Sheila (Author), Rosen, Ralph M. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0814254691 ISBN-13: 9780814254691 Publisher: Ohio State University Press OUR PRICE: $33.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2018 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | American - General - Literary Criticism | Ancient And Classical |
Dewey: 810.900 |
Series: Classical Memories/Modern Identitie |
Physical Information: 0.68" H x 6" W x 9" (0.99 lbs) 304 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Despite their self-presentation as iconoclasts, the writers of the Beat Generation were deeply engaged with the classical tradition. Many of them were university-trained and highly conscious of their literary forebears, and they frequently incorporated their knowledge of Greco-Roman literature into their own subversive, experimental practice. Seeking to transcend the superficiality, commercialism, and precariousness of life in post-World War II America, the Beat writers found in their classical models both a venerable literary heritage and a discourse of sublimity through which to articulate their desire for purity. In this volume, a diverse group of contributors explore for the first time the fascinating tensions and paradoxes that arose from interactions between these avant-garde writers and a literary tradition often seen as conservative and culturally hegemonic. With essays that cover the canonical Beat authors-such as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs-along with less well-known figures-including Kenneth Rexroth, Ed Sanders, and Diane di Prima-Hip Sublime: Beat Writers and the Classical Tradition brings long overdue attention to the Beat movement's formative appropriation of the Greek and Latin classics. |