by Chris Alexion, Copyright December 30, 2006, all rights reserved. 331 views
One thing that fascinates me about American literature is the paradox of the "rebellious establishment." In other words, poets of the Beat Generation like Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, and Adrienne Rich were once vocal minorities crying out against perceived injustices; their underdog status was their claim to fame. Like rock band Green Day, they wanted to be a minority: "I don't need your authority." Yet today it's clear that Ginsberg et al. are the newly-entrenched majority. Contemporary academia is almost hagiographical as it lays wreaths of respectability on these authors. (Similarly, Green Day is now a huge sensation on a major label and collaborating with stars like Bono and The Edge.)
Postmodern poets seem to have birthed an ugly hunchback of inconsistency that no one is supposed to know about. On the one hand, postmodernism revolts against absolute truth, calling it a tool used to keep oppressive power structures in place. Yet, on the other hand, the new postmodern establishment has no qualms about using the (oppressive) power structures of political correctness to silence the new generation of dissidents.
Something smells fishy.
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