The Beatniks

The Beatnik movement was a literary movement that originated in New York City in the 1950’s. The origins of the work “beat” are unknown, however the Americans are clear about the meaning. According to John Holmes (1952) the word beat represents mere weariness, the feeling of being used, and being raw. Beatniks were tired in their minds and beat up in their souls. This weariness feeling brought about the persuasive seriousness that the beatnik would express through poetry, song, and peaceful demonstrations. So for Americans the term “beatnik” became synonymous with an intellectual form of youth rebellion. (Bolt, 2009)
Beatnik writers went against the ideals of their current culture in both their lifestyles and literature. These tight knit groups of friends would share living quarters, drugs and ideals for social change. The beatnik represented and embraced the contradictions of contemporary lives creating active and accessible poetry. (Bolt, 2009) through collaborations, experiments with rhythms and questioning of the status quo, the beatnik forever altered the relationship between poetry and popular culture. (Bolt, 2009)

By completely changing the face of American poetry and prose, the beat writers gave Americans a new way of viewing the world and became an instrumental part of American literary history. (Ginsberg, 2010).


Ginsberg, A. (2010). Beat culture: A later manifestation of bohemia.
Retrieved from http://www.mtholyoke.edu

Holmes, J. (1952, November 16). This is the best generation.
The new york times magazine