ONE CHAPTER CLOSER

Analysis of the poem "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg

By Caroline Piontek

GRIN Verlag · 2014-10-21

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, , language: English, abstract: "Howl" was written by Allen Ginsberg in 1955 and is probably the most important, most discussed and one of the best known poems of the 20th century. Even its first public reading represents one of the major events on modern literary history (Gaughan 124). Ginsberg was intensely influenced by people and events that surrounded him when writing "Howl". "Howl" is in a way what its title says: A howl of a young man that is disgusted by the culture he finds himself in. Ginsberg provided a counter culture, in circles of like-minded friends. They framed the anger of a whole generation in their literature and formed a rebellious movement, the so called Beat Movement (“Beat writers” 39). When "Howl" was published a fierce discussion started because the poem was different from the common poetry of the 1950s concerning the content, the form and the language. "Howl" was also adapted in a 2010 experimental movie by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, which shows there is still an interest and a fascination for Ginsberg’s poem, maybe because the topic Ginsberg howls about is still relevant (Epstein).

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