Rebel Poets of 1950s

Rebel Poets of 1950s

"America demands a poetry that is bold, modern and all-surrounding and kosmical, as she is herself." Although Walt Whitman wrote that prescription shortly after the Civil War, it also vividly describes the generation of American poets who came of age after World War II. Particularly during moments of cultural change, poets have joined artists on the front lines of expanding consciousness by forging a vernacular language that gives expression to contemporary life. One such shift in poetry occurred at the time of World War I, and another major shift took place during the decade after the Second World War. The 1950s are stereotypically represented as a time of conformity and unclouded prosperity--a mixture of Ozzie and Harriet, hula hoops, suburban tract homes, and shopping malls--along with the political anxiety imposed by McCarthyism. During such a period of apparent hegemony, the poets presented in this exhibition became a collective force that stood outside of these larger societal trends. "The avant-garde is never anything but a community of particular sympathy," observed poet Jonathan Williams. "It is the total locale of America that produces the culture."

The "Rebel Poets of the 1950s" have been grouped into four overlapping constellations: the Beat Generation, the San Francisco Renaissance, the Black Mountain poets, and the New York School poets. Together they formed, in Allen Ginsberg's words, "the united phalanx," whose unity owed more to a collective feeling of embattlement than it did to unified poetics. At the time, many of these writers were called anti-intellectuals, "destroyers of language," and literary juvenile delinquents. These writers actually read voraciously--both classical and mod...

... middle of paper ...

...ance accorded these writers.

This cornucopia of images of poets is anchored by their words. The written word is represented by the poets' publications from the period. Ranging from informal, mimeographed little magazines to elegant books that resulted from collaborations with artists, these publications were essential for disseminating the poetry that eluded the mainstream publishing industry. The spoken word is represented by audiotapes of several poets reading from their own works. These tapes--some recorded in pristine studio conditions, others recorded live against the makeshift backdrop of group readings- -reflect the vocal contributions in a group that valued the tradition of the troubadour. As these poets eloquently demonstrate, now, when television and movie images dominate America, the individual voice still retains its power to enlighten and to enchant.