Project Proposal

I am interested in pursuing the "beat" attitude of San Francisco. I am fascinated by the down-trodden voice that comes through the poetry of Brautigan's "Trout Fishing in America" and Ginsberg's "Howl." Both describe intimately a rejection of mainstream America, paying attention to the disillusionment of the people in San Francisco. Redemption becomes possible through eastern ideals and philosophies which is also characterized through Kerouac's writings and notions of the "beatitudes". The poetic devices of such writers emphasize the literal beat of the poem, paying close attention to breath and pause, drawing from jazz influences, which embody the low nature of life.

The beats influence is undeniable and prevalent in modern literature. The attitude of being beat and disillusioned remains today as a living force in America, making poems like "Howl" or Ferlinghetti's "The Dog" just as applicable today as when they were first published. 

Other materials I would like to consult for my project will include prominent beat poems of various writers of San Francisco like John Ashbury, Jack Spicer,and Diane di Prima. I would also visit various locations of San Francisco that have inspired writers and poems alike, visiting the Golden Gate Bridge and City Lights bookstore. 

My provisional thesis would be to address the "beat" attitude and ideals of San Francisco beats in a lengthy poem. It would address the disillusionment of the contado while encompassing the styles and poetic structures of a beat poem, paying close attention to form,syntax,and metrics. The poem would exemplify Ginsberg's call to spontaneous creativity, and his notion that the first thought is the best thought. The poem would draw heavily in subject matter from Brautigan's "Trout Fishing in America," with its simplistic undertones of bitter sweetness while still submitting the reader to the harsh realities of life. The poem is meant to be read to the accompaniment of a jazz track,which I may attempt to compose,(i know,crazy)emphasizing the improvisations of poetry and its existence as a living, changing force.

I feel that I am my own limitation in writing this piece. I think it is a hefty endeavor to attempt to emulate the beats, especially since I admire and respect them deeply. I do not want to fail miserably in my attempts at praising them in a poem written in their likeliness. I can only hope that I will succeed in attempting to capture the "beat" attitude of life which can only happen if I can fully immerse myself in that consciousness. Visiting San Francisco should be a great inspiration to the writing process as well as reading various Beat poets. My only fear is writer's block.

"I don't want my daughter to be educated. I think women should just be decorative."

So we all know in class how Brautigan was accused of being misogynistic, egotistical, blah blah blah. He was a love poet. "Map Shower" is a perfect example of this:

I want your hair

to cover me with maps

of new places,

so everywhere I go

will be as beautiful

as your hair.

This is only one simple example of many that Brautigan writes portraying the almost ethereal, and divine characteristics of a woman. Now that I have that out of the way, I can begin unraveling Brautigans's writing style. He is childish in a way, using simple nouns and verbs. His sentence structure is not complex but still blatantly to the point. He does not beat around the bush with fancy, flowery words but tells you how it is with a sense of innocence. His intelligence is not to be questioned for it is quite clear that he is well read, citing many examples of Kafka, Hemingway, and Baudelaire. I think this style is very suitable to Brautigan's message. He was a post-beat writer, but still embodies the sentiments of the beat generation; A piece of green pepper/ fell / off the wooden salad bowl:/ so what?/ Brautigan's "Haiku Ambulance" is an attempt to make some sense of this world. He writes in the haiku style, meaning for it to be eye-opening, a feeling of transcendence when really who can make sense of a green pepper falling? Is there any meaning in that? Brautigan's comical response "so what" is very typical of his writing, making light of something that people read far too much into. I think Brautigan finds solace in juxtaposing melancholy things with amusing things. It's his way of dealing with the harsh realities of existence. This is probably what made him such an icon in the 1960's. His frontiersman appearance and simplistic writing style was nostalgic of simpler, easier times, when one didn't have to work so hard or didn't have to worry so much. There will never be another Richard Brautigan.

This brings me to my last question. I have been thinking about this for quite sometime now and would like to extend it out to all of you. Why do you think Richard Brautigan killed himself? It is really a tragic thing and after reading a lot about him, it seems like he went far before it was time. It was sudden and sad and unexpected. Do you think his decline in popularity had something to do with it? Let me know your thoughts.

"My own experience is that a certain kind of genius among students is best brought out in bed.”

In Allen Ginsberg's poem "I," he pays close attention to the drug addicts, the mental patients, the artists and musicians that make up a significant portion of his life. These experiences have followed him from Africa to the Caribbean to Manhattan to San Francisco. He couples these experiences by noting in great detail their relationship with each other. Whether you are a jazz musician, or motorcycle rider, you find yourself in Ginsberg's poem, line by line, next to somebody you never thought you'd come across. Ginsberg creates a sense of community in this poem by identifying the lowly,and desolate which serves to further the concept of "contado." He establishes a county, or community that extends beyond the boundaries of San Francisco in his poem. He manages to bring very different people together under the notion that everybody, at one point or another, has been "beat." This reflects the very "contado" or community that makes up a metropolitan city, eclectic people who belong to very different class structures. 

In his poem "America," I think Ginsberg expands upon his idea of community.He addresses America in a way that the average person can relate to, not as some elevated, pretentious poet, but as the common, average person. He asks America several things including when will they send their eggs to India and when will America end human war. Ginsberg is very in tuned with the human consciousness and taps into that by including the whole world in questioning America.

So, my favorite poem of this collection would have to be "Song" on page 50. It is a much softer side to Ginsberg and contains some beautiful images and language. I have been questioning what he meant by his ending lines, "I always wanted,/to return/to the body/where I was born." What does this mean? It seems to contradict the rest of the poem but the poem is full of contradictions... love being heavy, not uplifting, burning purity, etc etc;