The Beat Generation was created by a group of American writers in the 1950s, and gave inspiration and a new perspective for the lives of many. These writers spoke against mainstream American values, materialism, militarism, and consumerism. They were also experimental with drugs and took high interest in Eastern spirituality.
The biggest figures and early writers of the Beat Generation were Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, Gregory Corso, Herbert Huncke, Lucien Carr, Peter Orlovsky, and John Clellon Holmes. These people were also known as the beatniks (legend has it that Bob Kaufman was the first person to be called a beatnik). Certain poets associated with the San Francisco Renaissance such as Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Harold Norse, Kirby Doyle, Michael McClure met some of the core beatniks. The poets associated with the Black Mountain College were also associated with the Beat Generation, such as Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, and Robert Duncan.
Beat Generation works encouraged spontaneity, open emotion, and the controversial engagement in worldly experiences. Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs were especially known for having obscenities in their work. Their drug use, sexuality, and inappropriate behavior were not widely accepted by the “mainstream” 1950s. The first piece of writing that the Beats gained national attention with was Ginsberg’s Howl. There was an obscenity trial held against this book and it ironically raised its popularity. William Burroughs also had to deal with an obscenity trial for his book Naked Lunch and Kerouac had many of his books edited to get most of delinquency encouraging material. These trials still had importance; they helped establish that if anything was deemed to have literary value, that it was no longer considered obscene. The Beats didn’t only use obscenities to catch people’s attention though; they often used these obscenities to show people what they...