Charles Bukowski, Outsider Literature, and the Beat Movement (Routledge Studies in Twentieth-Century Literature)

by Paul Clements

Jacob Park (Editor), Ken Conca (Editor), and Matthias Finger (Editor)

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Book cover for Charles Bukowski, Outsider Literature, and the Beat Movement

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This book uses cultural and psycho-social analysis to examine the beat writer Charles Bukowski and his literature, focusing on representations of the anti-hero rebel and outsider. Clements considers the complexities, ambiguities, and contradictions represented by the author and his work, exploring Bukowski’s visceral writing of the cultural ordinary and everyday self-narrative. The study considers Bukowski’s apolitical, gendered, and working-class stance to understand how the writer represents reality and is represented with regards to counter-cultural literature. In addition, Clements provides a broader socio-cultural focus that evaluates counterculture in relation to the American beat movement and mythology, highlighting the male cool anti-hero. The cultural practices and discourses utilized to situate Bukowski include the individual and society, outsiderdom, cult celebrity, fan embodiment, and disneyfication, providing a greater understanding of the beat generation and counterculture literature.

  • ISBN13 9781134059713
  • Publish Date 26 April 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
  • Imprint Routledge
  • Format eBook
  • Pages 214
  • Language English