The Spiritual Imagination of the Beats
Cambridge University Press, 8/17/2017
EAN 9781108416450, ISBN10: 1108416454
Hardcover, 244 pages, 23.5 x 15.9 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
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.
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.