Transformation of the Growing-Up Novel as Impacted by Zen Buddhism Ideas in Kerouac’s Novels  On the Road and Dharma Bums

The article is dedicated to the analysis of two key novels created by the USA writer J. Kerouac, “On the Road” and “The Dharma Bums”. The authors aim at identifying and describing how the specific generic features of the growing-up novel, as preconditioned by the resonation with Zen Buddhist ideas, function in the aforesaid writings, as well as showing that the novel “On the Road” demonstrates the “cross-current” in Kerouac’s world view which had prepared his infatuation with Zen Buddhism before he familiarized himself with it. Analyzing the texts of the aforesaid manuscripts through the prism of Zen Buddhist principles, the researchers outline the following ideas being typical of Kerouac as a representative of the Beat generation: the disengagement from attachments; the spontaneity; the position of a human as an observer who has renounced the individuality; the Path as an independent value; the “Zen poverty”; the duality of madness and wisdom, and the ecstatic perception of the being moment as close to the term of “Satori” in the Zen. These listed elements of the Beat-and-Zen culture are curiously integrated into the genre paradigm of the growing-up novel, specifically, the variation thereof such as the “becoming” novel, which is transformed by acquiring the innovative features: Kerouac’s novels are written from the first-person point of view and lack the assessment of the hero’s behaviour as typical for the classical forms of the growing-up novel narrating in third person; the characters are not obliged by external circumstances to survive the challenges, consciously choosing the homeless life whose events mould them up; there is the re-evaluation of the role of the mentor whose authority is not associated with the age or status thereof; the heroes teach each other interchangeably, while the age or the social position become insignificant.

Keywords

Kerouac, beatniks, the Beat generation, Zen Buddhism, growing-up novel, a Way concept, naïve consciousness, a mad wiseman, Satori, chronotopos (space-time)

Received

22.01.2024

Publication date

29.01.2024

Number of characters

26495

Cite

GOST	Tsvetkova M., Belyanskaya O. Transformation of the Growing-Up Novel as Impacted by Zen Buddhism Ideas in Kerouac’s Novels “On the Road” and “Dharma Bums” // Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka – 2024. – V. 82. – Issue 6 C. 65-74 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://izv-oifn.ru/S160578800029123-1-1 (circulation date: 20.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S160578800029123-1
MLA	Tsvetkova, Marina V, Belyanskaya, Oksana V. "Transformation of the Growing-Up Novel as Impacted by Zen Buddhism Ideas in Kerouac’s Novels “On the Road” and “Dharma Bums”." Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 82.6 (2024):65-74. DOI: 10.31857/S160578800029123-1
APA	Tsvetkova M., Belyanskaya O. (2024). Transformation of the Growing-Up Novel as Impacted by Zen Buddhism Ideas in Kerouac’s Novels “On the Road” and “Dharma Bums”. Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 82(6), pp.65-74 DOI: 10.31857/S160578800029123-1

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 86

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Mendelson, M.O. Sovremennyj amerikanskij roman [Contemporary American Novel]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1964. 534 p. (In Russ.)

2. Charters, A. A bibliography of works by Jack Kerouac (Jean Louis Lebris De Kerouac) 1939–1975. N.Y., The Phoenix book shop, 1967. 99 p.

3. Gifford, B., Lee, L. Jack’s book. An oral biography of Jack Kerouac. N.Y., Thunder’s mouth press, 1994. 304 p.

4. McNally, D. Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and America. N.Y., McGraw-Hill Companies, 1979. 400 p.

5. Nicosia, G. Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac. University of Califirnia Press, 1994. 767 p.

6. Clark, T. Jack Kerouac. N.Y., Paragon House, 1994. 254 p.

7. Turner, S. Angelheaded Hipster: A Life of Jack Kerouac. N.Y., Viking Books, 1996. 224 p.

8. Miles, B. Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats. N.Y., Henry Holt and Company, 1999. 352 p.

9. Maher, P. Kerouac: The Definitive Biography. Lanham, New York, Toronto, Taylor trade, 2004. 557 p.

10. Dardess, G. The Logic of Spontaneity: A Reconsideration of Kerouac’s “Spontaneous Prose Methodˮ. Boundary 2. 1975, V. 3, pp. 729–746.

11. Hipkiss, R.A. Jack Kerouac: Prophet of the New Romanticism. Lawrence, Kansas, The Regent’s Press of Kansas, 1976. 150 p.

12. Tytell, J. Naked Angels: The lives and literature of the Beat Generation (Kerouac Ginsberg, Burroughs). Chicago, Ivan R.Dee, 1976. 273 p.

13. Trudeau, J. Jack Kerouac’s spontaneous prose: A performance genealogy of the fiction. Louisiana State University, 2006. 238 p.

14. King, J.W. On the Road from Melville to postmodernism: The case for Kerouac’s canonization. Johnson, East Tennessee State University, 2008. 77 p.

15. Morozova, T.L. Obraz molodogo amerikanca v literature SshA: bitniki, Sehlindzher, Bellou, Apdajk [Image of a Young American in the USA Literature: Beatniks, Salinger, Bellow, Updike]. Moscow, Vysshaya Shkola Publ., 1969. 96 p. (In Russ.)

16. Zverev, A.M. Modernizm v literature SShA: formirovanie, ehvolyuciya, krizis [Modernism in the USA Literature: Formation, Evolution, Crisis]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1979. 320 p. (In Russ.)

17. Oshinsh, E.E. Metod i zhanr prozy Dzheka Keruaka [The Method and Genre of Jack Kerouac’s Prose]. Cand. Sc. Philology Thesis. Moscow, 1984. 180 p. (In Russ.)

18. Denisova, T.N. Ehkzistencializm i sovremennyj merikanskij roman [Existentialism and the Contemporary American Novel]. Kiev: Naukova dumka Publ., 1985. 245 p. (In Russ.)

19. Shkolskaya, A.O. Zhanrovyj sinkretizm v literature andegraunda (roman Dzh. Keruaka “Na doroge” i poehma Ven. Erofeeva “Moskva-Petushki” [Generic Syncretism in the Underground Literature (The Novel “On the Road” by J. Kerouac and the Poem “Moscow-Petushki” by V. Erofeev]. Cand. Sc. Philology Thesis. Smolensk, 2021. 182 p. (In Russ.)

20. Bondarenko, O.Y. Antinomiya “mudrost-bezumie” v kontrkulture SSha 1950–1960-kh gg. [The “Wisdom – Madness” Antinomy in the USA Counterculture, the 1950–1960s]. Cand. Of Cult. Studies Thesis. Moscow, 2009. 186 p. (In Russ.)

21. Shkolskaya, A.O. Biblejskie i mifologicheskie obrazy v romane Dzh. Keruaka “V doroge” [The Biblical and Mythological Images in J. Kerouac’s Novel “On the Road”]. Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki [Philology. Theory & Practice]. 2016, No. 9-1 (63), pp. 45–48. (In Russ.)

22. Grishin, M.V. Subkultura bitnikov i ikh recepciya dzehn buddizma v SShA (vtoraya polovina 50-kh – seredina 60-kh godov ХХ veka) [The Beatniks’ Subculture and Their Reception of Zen Buddhism in the USA (late half of the 1950s – mid-1960s 20th Century]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta kultury i iskusstv [Bulletin of the Moscow State University of Culture and Arts]. 2015, No. 5 (67), pp. 116–122. (In Russ.)

23. Levikova, S.I. Fenomen molodezhnoj subkultury (socialno-filosofskij aspekt) [The Phenomenon of the Youth Subculture (Socio-Philosophical Aspect]. Dr. Phil. Thesis – Social philosophy. Moskovskij pedagogicheskij gosudarstvennyj universitet [Moscow State Pedagogical University]. Moscow, 2002. 358 p. (In Russ.)

24. Zagvozdkina, E.G. Ocenka vliyaniya razbitogo pokoleniya na kontrkulturu 1960-kh v SShA v rossijskikh i zarubezhnykh issledovaniyakh [The Evaluation of the Impact by the “Beat Generation” on the 1960s Counterculture in the USA Across the Russian and Foreign Research]. Vestnik Vyatskogo Gosudarstvennogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta [Herald of Vyatka State University]. 2016, No. 7, pp. 60−64. (In Russ.)

25. Anthology. Antologiya poehzii bitnikov [The Anthology of the Beatniks’ Poetry]. Ultra.Kultura, 2004. 784 p. (In Russ.)

26. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. Beat movement. Encyclopedia Britannica. [URL: https://www.britannica.com/art/Beat-movement].

27. Watts, A. Dzehn bitnikov, pravilnyj dzehn i prosto dzehn [Beat Zen, square Zen and Zen]. Mir dzehn [The World of Zen]. Transl. From Eng. T.V. Kamyshnikova ed. S.V. Pakhomov. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2007, pp. 456–470. (In Russ.)

28. Dyumulen, G. Istoriya dzehn buddizma [The History of Zen Buddhism]. Moscow, Centrpoligraf Publ., 2003. 317 p. (In Russ.)

29. Kerouac, J. The Dharma Bums. London, André Deutch, 1959. 254 p.

30. Roshak, T. Istoki kontrkultury [The Origins of Counterculture]. Moscow, AST Publ, 2014. 380 p. (In Russ.)

31. Shea, A. Jack Kerouac’s famous scroll, ʻOn the Road’ again. NPR. [URL: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14112461].

32. Suzuki, D.T. Lekcii po dzehn buddizmu [Lectures on Zen Buddhism]. Moscow, Associaciya molodykh uchenykh Publ., 1990. 112 p. (In Russ.)

33. Kerouac, J. On the Road. New York, The Viking Press, 1959. 310 p.

34. Suzuki, D.T., Watts, A., Benoit, H., Hisamatsu, S., Humphreys, K. Satori ili obretenie novogo mirovozzreniya [Satori or Acquiring a New Viewpoint]. Mir dzehn [The World of Zen]. Transl. From Eng. T.V. Kamyshnikova ed. S.V. Pakhomov. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2007, pp. 61–69 (In Russ.)

35. Bakhtin, M.M. Ehstetika slovesnogo tvorchestva [Aesthetics of the written word]. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1979. – pp. 188-236 (In Russ.)

36. Bakhtin, M.M. Voprosy literatury i ehstetiki [Issues of literature and aesthetics]. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya Literatura, 1975. – 504 p. (In Russ.)

37. Tom Vitale. “On the Road” at 50. NPR. [URL: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14112461].

38. Fellows, M. The Apocalypse of Jack Kerouac: Meditations on the 30th Anniversary of his Death. Culture Wars Magazine. November 1999 [URL: http://www.culturewars.com/CultureWars/1999/kerouac.html].