A couple of students have asked about where to post these… How about here?
Invocations?
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: https://beats2011.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/invocations/trackback/
Beat Literature and the World
Just another WordPress.com site
Beat Literature and the World 
some passages from Gilles Deleuze that make me think of the beats. page numbers correspond to Dialogues II.
“Becomings – they are the thing which is the most imperceptible, they are acts which can only be contained in a life and expressed in a style. Styles are not constructions, any more than modes of life. In style it is not the words which count, nor the sentences, nor the rhythms and figures. In life it is not the stories, nor the principals, nor the consequences. You can always replace one word with another. If you don’t like that one, if it doesn’t suit you, take another, put another in its place. If each one of us makes this effort, everyone can understand one another and there is scarcely any reason to ask questions or to raise objections.” (3)
“Here again it is a question of becoming. People always think of a majoritarian future (when I am grown up, when I have power). Whereas the problem is that of a minoritarian-becoming, not pretending, not playing or imitating the child, the madman, the woman, the animal, the stammerer or the foreigner, but becoming all these, in order to invent new forces or new weapons.” (5)
In Beattitudes, Kerouac is quoted in a letter written to Neal Cassidy, saying “Meanwhile, I stood there – for about ten seconds, the first in heavenly rapture, the last nine in contemplation of rapture (which is beatitude) – as people walked around me as they would around a post, a solid post”.
I appreciate this definition of beatitude as it points out the importance of contemplation in many of the works produced by the beats. This contemplation comes both in the form of personal contemplation, as we see in much of Big Sur, as well as, analyzing social landscapes presented to these writers in locations new and familiar. Metaphorically speaking, Kerouac’s use of “solid post” in this passage encapsulates an idea of the beats as peripheral members of society, undeterred yet often overlooked, all the while standing there and soaking up their surroundings in narrative form.
I thought I’d share something that I think is a really good example of the influence of the beats on contemporary music. The song ‘T.B Sheets’ by Van Morrison (see below) really embodies Kerouac’s ideas about spontaneous prose. For example, his lyrics recreate the scene especially by playing different characters but in such a way that it is not an overly explicit dialogue between various people (perhaps a little like the reading we heard of Kearouac with the different characters) and the way he uses languageis very sparse and almost spare of the moment, as thoguh he is singning what he is thinking at that exact moment. For me, this song is perhaps more of a poem to a jazz/blues beat that brings with it a real sense of spontaneity and makes the listener feel in the moment much in the same way that Kerouac’s prose, in particular, also aims to do.
Also, the influence of the beats on Van Morrison’s music and lyrics is noted in ‘Beatitudes’ (page 68) which quotes the lyrics of one of Morrison’s more recent songs. Given that he is an Irish musician, this perhaps fits in nicely with the ‘worldly’ aspects of the course and the way in which their writing techniques and overall movement, has resounded around the world.
Enjoy.
Professor Wilson mentioned in Monday’s lecture that Mr. Tambourine Man – Bob Dylan was a good example of the idea of being “beat down”. Dylan’s lyrics give off great imagery of just wanting to escape reality and being physically exhausted. Here are the lyrics and the song:
Mr. Tambourine Man
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you
Though I know that evenin’s empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, I’m branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street’s too dead for dreaming
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship
My senses have been stripped, my hands can’t feel to grip
My toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin’
I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you
Though you might hear laughin’, spinnin’, swingin’ madly across the sun
It’s not aimed at anyone, it’s just escapin’ on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin’
And if you hear vague traces of skippin’ reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it’s just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn’t pay it any mind
It’s just a shadow you’re seein’ that he’s chasing
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you
Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you
This is a great song, and you’re right in comparing the lyrics to a beat poem. There is a very restless feeling I can’t escape when listening to this. Another great Dylan song that captures the “beaten down feeling” is Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, off Blonde on Blonde. The lyrics evoke such a vivid place that reminds me of a Ginsberg poem.
In Beattitudes, one section that I feel captured the overall arc of the book was strangely enough the excerpt from Romans by St. Paul:
“And be not conformed to this world [be nonconformists]; but be ye transformed [metamorphose yourselves] by the renewing of your mind” (43).
I believe these simple words explain and reveal the true story behind the beat movement, which I why I imagine Professor Wilson put it in his book. Its simple, yet layered understanding of being unique from the crowd reminds us of many beat writers, but just as well the excerpt reminds those figures to be inspired and constantly changing. Like the beat movement, the words inspire to not become another face in the crowd, and be original. To break free from conformity and listen to your inner thoughts to renew yourself.
I was reading Diane di Prima this morning and I had a readers Freudian slip. While normally I would just ignore this as me being a little tired and needing to concentrate more, I figured it might be neat to go with it… in revolutionary letter #63, I read “check sentence: whose interest does it serve?” but it actually reads “check Science: whose interest does it serve?”(80). What would it mean to check the sentence? and furthermore, whose interest does Diane di Prima’s set of revolutionary letters serve?
I’m taking the senior seminar on Gunter Grass’ “The Tin Drum” right now, and there are portions of that book that are really reminiscent of beat poetry to me. The narrator is insane by his own admission, and he makes use of rhythm and strange word association when telling the story of his life, particularly at the more traumatic parts. One specific part that I think works really well is this:
“Black is the Witch, black scares me green, green grow the lilacs but lavender’s blue, blue is true blue but I don’t trust it, do you? Green is for hope, green is the coffin I graze in, green covers me, green blanches me white, white stains yellow and yellow strikes me blue, blue me no green, green flowers red…” (Grass 156).
I think of this as similar to beat poetry because of the way he uses imagery. Like many of the works we have looked at (such as “Howl” or some of Kerouac’s more abstract poems), the author is not relying on stark descriptions to get his point across. Instead, he tries to transmit a feeling through abstract sentences, making the reader interpret the experience in their own unique way. Although the content itself is not very beat, “The Tin Drum” uses some pretty similar techniques.
I’m also in this class, and have made similar connections. The narrator’s style is often rather lyrical, and at times is very much in the style of beat poetry. The narrator is also quite a beat character. At the time the novel is being written he is in an insane asylum, and throughout his life he has gone through all sorts of strange, larger than life experiences. For example, at age three he decided to stop growing, which immediately set him up for a more downtrodden and beat life. Although it may not immediately seem like The Tin Drum has any reference to Beat Literature, there are still many strong connections between the two.
I know that it you came upon the phrase “check the sentence” randomly, but what exactly did you mean when you asked what it would mean to check the sentence”? Did you mean that specific sentence in #63 or did you mean a more generalized “checking” (analyzation, noting) of Di Prima’s style in her collection of Revolutionary Letters?
If you mean a more general examination of di Prima’s style: her book of poems, Revolutionary Letters, is primarily marked by a sense of anticipation, a sense of looking towards the future, and a placing of importance upon not what is, but what could be. Which, in light of the fact that di Prima’s poetry exhibits not only a stong belief in the possibility of a utopic civilization, but also actual, practical, material advice for revolutionary activities (ie what kind of food to store or what kind of place to choose for a demonstration), makes very much sense. di Prima’s writing (“her sentences, as you maybe put it) does not make use of the lyrical “I” very often (though not never) and, instead, focuses on collective, community based experiences: both our current destruction of our world but also the radical re-building and re-vision of our lives and world that can only be achieved through communal means (ie read revolution).
The importance of the community (as a planet and human race, too)carries over to the question of who di Prima’s letters serve. di Prima’s poems serve everyone’s interest in the sense that she advocates a lifestyle which is very conscious and self-aware of its position and link towards other beings. On the other hand, di Prima’s work addresses not only those who want to hear (who think, who act like her, who agree with her opinions), but forces everyone to look and confront the problems we have created. di Prima’s poetry presents an image of the modern world which is not easy to look at. By forcing us to re-evaluate our current choices, practices and beliefs, di Prima’s poetry works to make the world more sustainable and well-balanced for all.
This video features recordings by Diane di Prima of 4 of her Revolutionary Letters, numbers 7, 13, 16, and 49, the last of which we went over in lecture today (Feb. 2). This recording was made in 1969, before the Revolutionary letters were first published. As such, there are a few discrepancies between some of the words on the recording and those in our copy of the published form. For me, it’s a different experience listening to di Prima read her letters as opposed to reading them; in Revolutionary Letter #49, she reads the repeated lines with the same emphasis and tone each time making her delivery more powerful than redundant.
This recording was originally featured on an album as part of the Dial-A-Poem series, a project started by John Giorno in 1969 as a unique way to spread poetry to the people. While the program was still running over the phones, and on records that were released subsequently, major contributions came not only from di Prima, from other familiar Beat names from our class readings including Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, William S. Burroughs, and Philip Whalen.
Diane di Prima – Revolutionary Letters #7, #13, #16, and #49
The entirety of the first of the first record released by Giorno Poetry Systems (the same one that features this di Prima recording), “The Dial-A-Poem Poets” can be found at this website, UbuWeb Sound, which features all of the old recordings plus some that are being newly released.
Here is a link to the New York Times article “Dial-A-Poem Enters the Internet Age” in which I gained some background knowledge about Giorno Poetry Systems and learned about the UbuWeb Sound site. Happy Listening!
This is a really interesting video. I found one of the readings matched up with how I read them perfectly (#7, to be exact), but the others were pretty different. #16 was especially off; I read it at a much faster pace than she did. I love hearing beat poems since they always feel more genuine than when I read them for some reason.