The Beat Generation/or the Beat Generation was a loosely knit group of young poets and writers who emerged in the United States after World War II. The name was first proposed by writer Jack Kerouac around 1948. In English, the adjective "beat" means "tired" or "down and out", but Kerouac gave it a new meaning of "jubilation" or "happiness", which is connected with the concept of "beat" in music. . Since then, the title of "Beat Generation" has spread through various media. The "Beat Generation" is actually a contrast to the "Lost Generation". Hemingway created the "Lost Generation" in his novel "The Sun Still Rises". This title comes from the famous American writer Stein's sentence for the title of "The Sun Still Rises" - "You are the Lost Generation." . The "Lost Generation" refers to the young people who grew up after the First World War (including Hemingway). The reason why they lost their faith in life was due to the trauma of the war, but they did not lose their desire for humanity because of this. . The "Beat Generation" is different. Many of them have lost the most basic understanding of human nature. Using the term "Beat Generation" also expresses the public's disappointment and dissatisfaction with them.
The reason why such a small group of down-and-out writers, students, fraudsters and drug addicts is regarded as a "generation" is because this group of people played a decisive role in the formation of American postmodernist culture after World War II. In the field of Western literature, the "Beat Generation" is regarded as an important branch of postmodernist literature and one of the important schools in the history of American literature.
Most of the members of the "Beat Generation" were cynical swingers who believed in liberal ideals. Their ideas for literary creation are often spontaneous and sometimes very chaotic. The works created by writers of the "Beat Generation" are often widely controversial because these works usually do not adhere to the conventions of traditional creation, are often messy in structure and form, and have rough and even vulgar language.
The "Beat Generation" had a profound impact on later Western culture, and is regarded by cultural studies scholars as the first truly postmodern "subculture."
Important literary works of the "Beat Generation" include "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) "Howl" and "Naked Lunch" by William Burrows (1914-1997), etc.
The latter two works attracted the attention of the court due to their "obscene" content, but they also contributed to the process of legalizing the publication of such literary works in the United States