Editing Beat Generation (section)

{{short description|Literary movement}}
{{for-multi|the subculture surrounding the literary movement|Beatnik|the play|Beat Generation (play){{!}}''Beat Generation'' (play)|the film|The Beat Generation (film){{!}}''The Beat Generation'' (film)}}
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| footer    = Notable writers of the Beat Generation include (from left): [[William S. Burroughs]], [[Allen Ginsberg]] and [[Jack Kerouac]]. All were from the [[Greatest Generation|previous generation]].
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The '''Beat Generation''' was a literary [[subculture]] movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced [[Culture of the United States|American culture]] and [[Politics of the United States|politics]] in the post-World War II era.<ref>Evans, Mike, ''The Beats: from Kerouac to Kesey : an illustrated journey through the Beat Generation'', Running Press, Introduction</ref> The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members of the [[Silent Generation]] in the [[1950s]], better known as [[Beatnik]]s. The central elements of Beat culture are the rejection of standard narrative values, making a spiritual quest, the exploration of American and Eastern religions, the rejection of [[economic materialism]], explicit portrayals of the [[human condition]], experimentation with [[psychedelic drug]]s, and [[Sexual revolution|sexual liberation]] and exploration.<ref>[http://www.online-literature.com/periods/beat.php The Beat Generation – Literature Periods & Movements.]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = Beat Down to Your Soul: What was the Beat Generation?|last = Charters|first = Ann|publisher = Penguin Books|year = 2001|isbn = 0141001518}}</ref>

[[Allen Ginsberg]]'s ''[[Howl (poem)|Howl]]'' (1956), [[William S. Burroughs]]' ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' (1959), and [[Jack Kerouac]]'s ''[[On the Road]]'' (1957) are among the best-known examples of Beat literature.<ref name="Charters92toc">Charters (1992) ''The Portable Beat Reader''.</ref> Both ''Howl'' and ''Naked Lunch'' were the focus of [[obscenity]] trials that ultimately helped to liberalize publishing in the United States.<ref name="Ann Charters 2001">Ann Charters, ''introduction'', to ''Beat Down to Your Soul'', Penguin Books (2001) {{ISBN|978-0-14100-151-7}} p. xix "[...] the conclusion of the obscenity trial in San Francisco against Lawrence Ferlinghetti for publishing Ginsberg's ''Howl and Other Poems'' [...] in which Judge [[Clayton W. Horn]] concluded for the defendant that 'Howl' had what he called 'redeeming social content.'", p. xxxiii "After the successful ''Howl'' trial, outspoken and subversive literary magazines sprung up like wild mushrooms throughout the United States."</ref><ref name="Ted Morgan 1988. p 347">Ted Morgan, ''Literary Outlaw'', New York: Avon, 1988. p. 347, trade paper edition {{ISBN|0-380-70882-5}}: "The ruling on ''Naked Lunch'' in effect marked the end of literary censorship in the United States."</ref> The members of the Beat Generation developed a reputation as new [[Bohemianism|bohemian]] [[Hedonism|hedonists]], who celebrated [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformity]] and spontaneous creativity.

The core group of Beat Generation authors—[[Herbert Huncke]], Ginsberg, Burroughs, [[Lucien Carr]], and Kerouac—met in 1944 in and around the [[Columbia University]] campus in New York City. Later, in the mid-1950s, the central figures, except Burroughs and Carr, ended up together in San Francisco, where they met and became friends of figures associated with the [[San Francisco Renaissance]].

In the 1950s, a [[Beatnik]] subculture formed around the literary movement, although this was often viewed critically by major authors of the Beat movement. In the 1960s, elements of the expanding Beat movement were incorporated into the [[History of the hippie movement|hippie]] and larger [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] movements. [[Neal Cassady]], as the driver for [[Ken Kesey]]'s bus ''[[Furthur (bus)|Furthur]]'', was the primary bridge between these two generations. Ginsberg's work also became an integral element of early 1960s hippie culture, in which he actively participated. The [[hippie]] culture was practiced primarily by older members of the [[Baby boomers|following generation]].