American Corner Vanadzor

Public lecture about the literature of the Beats

2:30pm 05.05.2010

On May 5, 2010, in the framework of “Americans at the American Corner” lecture series, the Vanadzor American Corner hosted a public lecture entitled “The literature of the Beats in 1950s America.” Our guest speaker was U.S. Embassy Political/Economic Officer Charles Lobdell.

Lobdell began by explaining that the Beat Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers (later sometimes called "beatniks") who came to prominence in the 1950s, and the cultural phenomena that they wrote about and inspired. Central elements of "Beat" culture include a rejection of materialism, experimentation with drugs and alternate forms of sexuality, and an interest in Eastern religion.

The major works of Beat writing are Allen Ginsberg's Howl (1956), William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch (1959) and Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957). Both Howl and Naked Lunch were the focus of obscenity trials that ultimately helped to liberalize what could be published in the United States. On the Road transformed Kerouac's friend Neal Cassady into a youth-culture hero. The members of the Beat Generation quickly developed a reputation as new bohemian hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous creativity.

The topic provoked many questions. About 25 students attended from the Teachers Training Institute, the European Regional Academy, the “Mkhitar Gosh” University and other colleges.