Existentialism City Square

Its a Ghost-11: The haunted location that Ii have chosen is Ssloss Ffurnace in Bbirmingham, Aalabama. There have been more than 100 reports of suspected paranormal activity at Sloss Furnaces recorded in Birmingham Police records. From minor incidents such as steam whistles apparently blowing by themselves, to major sightings and the rare physical assault. It is interesting to note that the majority of these reports happen in the months of September and October at night, during the old "graveyard shift."(frightfurnance.com)

” Williams’ theory therefore suggests that the terms must necessarily co-exist in order to define each other. The “pervasiveness of consent ” therefore characterises the fifties, against which these Beat texts can be contrasted. Theodore Roszak’s 1969 article ‘The Making of a Counterculture,’ helps define beat ideology as “heightened self-expression and often a rejection of political and authoritative institutions… a negative spirit of the times coupled with a specific lifestyle .” Both On the Road and Howl and their author’s lifestyles of their writers reflect this criterion, in idiomatic and contextual terms, lending to the notion that they are, by the overall nature of their existence, countercultural texts. Roszak’s adolescent counterculture often seems the embodiment of Dean and Sal’s ‘beatitude’ in On the Road “when they pulse to music…value what is raunchy… flare against authority, seek new experience, ” but it is similarly descriptive of the naked, sometime vulgar language Ginsberg employs in Howl “who bit detectives in the neck… let themselves be fucked in the ass.” (13) The Beats admire the vibrancy naturally present among youth, and although this is a style for which their writing has been criticised, it is a move away from the traditionally

Poet Allen Ginsberg composed "Howl" in 1955 and it was published by City Lights Books of San Francisco, CA the following year. He composed the poem in the middle of the 1950s, one of the greatest decades in history for mainstream America. It had been a decade since the American and Allied victory in the second world war. Numerous American men returned home to a country in much better shape than expected, with many women having entered the workforce to keep the economy and industry alive in their absence. The spoils of war were great and America saw a great era of prosperity and domestic, suburban bliss. More interstate highways were constructed. Many more cars were produced and bought. It was a classic era for mainstream American culture in the 1950s. Yet in the haze of the suburbs, expansion of television, growth of Hollywood, and cars, present here were the seeds of rebellion and counterculture that was more indicative of the following decade, 1960s. One such seed is the poem

Century apart, Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman share similar cultural, political and moral values, which they express in their literary work. Whitman’s writing is considered controversial for the eighteen hundreds. He sets the stage for generations to come breaking way from the strict Victorian poetic tradition by writing in free verse. Ginsberg follows his footsteps when composing his poem “Howl” by writing in long lines almost resembling prose and subdividing the poem into several parts. Likewise, he uses numerous repetitions to achieve rhythmicity of his verse. Ginsberg’s poem is heavily influenced by Whitman’s philosophy. The works “Song of myself” and “Howl” are similar in ideas, structure and underling themes. The two authors protest against old traditions imposed on the individual by corrupt society, stand against conformity and put emphasis on the need for change. They identify with their generation and dwell on themes such as sexuality, religion and the state of American society.

Existentialism is the epitome of the unknown. There is no straightforward explanation of what exactly it is, there is only certain characteristics and behaviors that describe existentialist views. Throughout today’s world, there are examples of it everywhere, it’s found in movies, books, songs, and just people in general. Existentialists are known to think and do for themselves only. They believe that to understand what it means to be human requires understanding of themselves first. Some very well known pieces of entertainment existentialism is found in are: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Stranger by Albert Camus,

To start, existentialism is a doctrine “which affirms that every truth and every action imply both an environment and a human subjectivity,” (Sartre, 1). In other words, this means that whenever someone makes an action, there was a set of surroundings, literally and figuratively, as well as a human consciousness responsible for the action. For instance, in the beginning, there was one man and no one else to impose their beliefs upon him. Therefore, the man had to create his own understanding, his own essence, which came after he was already existing. In addition, Subjectivity closely relates to existentialism because it is the quality of existing in someone’s mind rather than the external world. Altogether, these terms intertwine to show how human nature, a set of predetermined traits humans all possess, cannot exist because humans are

The Beat Generation is a literary movement during the 1950s that consisted of male authors including the widely known Allen Ginsberg, who explored American culture in their poems. The Beat Generation could be described as misogynistic and patriarchal due to their exclusion of women and concerns confined to only male outcasts. In Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 “Howl”, he brings his audience’s attention to male outcasts in society. In her 2015 “Howl”, a critical response to Ginsberg’s “Howl”, Amy Newman explores the oppression outcasted women endure in a male-dominated culture through the allusions of an admired female poet, Ginsberg’s original stanza form, and utilizing diction to convey a woman's perspective antithetically to Allen Ginsberg's original.

Existentialism is highly regarded when it comes to artists and artwork. Sartre is a well-known prominent advocate in the post war period. Sartre wrote essays about artists work which helped viewers translate philosophy into visual art and by doing this viewers are able to understand the reasons behind the artwork and along with the understanding comes a deeper appreciation for the art. If man is unexplainable it is because we make ourselves so if he is “indefinable it is because at first he is nothing” (Sartre) he must create who he will be.( www.theartstory.org) Sartre spoke these words to the artwork of the post war period. Jean Dubuffet and Wols art work is able to address the coexistence of mind and body on which humans need. Ponty believes that art does not have to be perfect and symmetrical its science does not have to be exact as long as it captures the eye of the observers than it has done its job correctly. Existentialism in art is for the artist to be completely free with every stroke of the hand. The art of the artist is dependent on the time and place in which the artist is born. Following the first and second World Wars, the decades of fighting and relentless political turmoil it comes as no surprise that a philosophy that invokes man, the individual’s existence at its core had such an extensive following. This is why existentialist art flourishes after times of war because people want to express their feeling of freedom and the importance of the individual.

Ginsberg’s work often represents a struggle for spiritual survival in a dehumanized, repressive society. This can be seen in his writing of “Howl”:

The form of Ginsberg’s poem challenges the American culture by resistance from “best minds”. Howl is separated to three sections that include long lines, which look like paragraphs. Resisting

The five core existentialists themes include: individualism and subjectivity; freedom and responsibility; existence and essence; anguish and absurdity; authenticity. Existentialism gets rid of the one-size-fits-all notion that philosophy revolved around in the prior years. Its individualism and subjectivity allows for each individual person to choose what is best for them when it comes to how to live. Existentialism gives people immense freedom. We are allowed to choose as we please. But, with choices comes responsibility; thus, we cannot blame others for our choices that come as a result of our unbounded freedom. Before existentialism, there was a preconceived notion that our existence dictates our essence. We are born into the roles that God assigns to us. Existentialists view it to be the other way around. It was a common them for existentialist philosophers to believe that we are born with a clean slate and we must fill that slate in. We exist before we make our essence. This sense of freedom although it may be liberating, it can also lead to feelings of anguish. Knowing that you are in charge of giving your life direction and meaning can make you feel a sense of absurdity. Thus, we are responsible to give it meaning. Another existentialist theme is to be authentic. You must choose your own path, if not then you are deemed

Allen Ginsberg’s revolutionary poem, Howl, is a powerful portrayal of life degraded. It represents the harsh life of the beat generation and chronicles the struggles of the repressed. Howl is a poem of destruction. Destruction of mind, body, and soul through the oppression of the individual. Using powerful diction, Allen Ginsberg describes this abolition of life and its implications through our human understanding of abstractions like Time, Eternity, and self. The poem’s jumbled phrasing and drastic emotion seems to correspond with the minds of the people it describes. Ginsberg uses surprisingly precise and purposeful writing to weave the complex

Jean Paul Sartre is a philosopher that supports the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialism is a twentieth century philosophy that denies any crucial human nature and embraces that each of us produces our own essence through our free actions. Existentialists like Sartre believe there isn’t a God that determines people’s nature. So, existentialists believe that humans have no purpose or nature except the ones that they create for themselves. We are free and responsible for what we are and our engagements; even though we are mindful that this can cause agony.

Existentialism developed in the more extensive feeling to twentieth century rationality that is focused upon the investigation about presence and of the best approach people discover themselves existing or their existence as a whole. Existentialism takes its name from those philosophical topic of 'existence ', this doesn 't involve that there will be homogeneity in the way presence will be on be comprehended. On simpler terms, existentialism will be an logic worried for finding self and the intending from claiming an aggregation through spare will, choice and also personage obligation. Existentialism turned into prominent following those Second World War. In spite of seeing its philosophical viewpoint is little spot complex,

Existentialism is a movement in philosophy and literature that began in the mid to late 19th and reach its peak in mid-20th century, and was largely spread through the works of French existentialist like Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Simone de Beauvoir (Mastin L, 2008). There is no agreed definition of existentialism, as those who are considered as “existentialist” do not share the same exact thought on the subject though the starting point may be fairly linked. Jean Paul Sartre, defines existentialism as a school of thought where one’s existence comes before his essence. Being an atheist existentialist, he argues that there is no God and that man existed first and defines himself afterwards. Thus “there is no human nature, because there is no God to have a conception of it. Man simply is” (Jean Paul Sartre,