Research Proposal on "American Jazz in Jack Kerouac"

Research Proposal 4 pages (1262 words) Sources: 2 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

American Jazz in

JACK KEROUAC'S ON THE ROAD

As perhaps the only true American musical artform, jazz was created mainly by African-Americans in the early years of the 20th century through an amalgamation of elements drawn from European-American and tribal African musical forms. As Barry Kernfeld so acutely points out, jazz "has had a profound effect on American culture, not only through its considerable popularity but also through the important role it has played" in shaping the numerous forms of American popular music that developed around it and out of it (580). This role can also be applied to other forms of artistic expression, particularly in the field of American literature in categories like poetry, the short story, and the novel. One pivotal literary work in which the elements of jazz serves as a sort of rhythmic foundation is Jack Kerouac's 1951 opus On The Road, inspired by "the drug-fueled cross-country car rides that Kerouac made with Neal Cassady" and narrated in a "headlong style. . . based on beauty, alcohol, sex, drugs, mysticism" and of course jazz music (Liukkonen, "Jack Kerouac," Internet).

Not surprisingly, Kerouac's life-long penchant for American jazz also shows up in a number of his other works written in the 1950's when Hollywood actor James Dean symbolized the true American "bad boy" and stood as the penultimate American rebel. One of these is Visions of Cody, written between 1951 and 1952, which "Beat poet" Allen Ginsberg, serving as the novel's unofficial editor, "considered as a "holy mess" yet did not change its "rambling style and discontinuous structure" because of its improvisational quality reminiscent of jazz music (Luikkonen, "Jack Kerouac," Internet). As added support, Kerouac as a member of the "Beat

Generation" personally identified with jazz and recognized it as "a fundamental part of the Beat sub-culture" while also viewing jazz musicians as "heroes and sages," figures like Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, appreciated by Kerouac as "true American geniuses, heroes and rebels" in protest against traditional white American, middle-class values ("The Influences of the Beat Generation,' Internet).

Certainly, Kerouac's deep understanding and appreciation of American jazz served as his foundation for the syncopation found within the pages of On The Road. In this respect, syncopation in musical terms can be described as "an effect of rhythmic displacement created by articulating weaker beats or metrical positions" (Kernfeld, 1178), but in the case of On The Road, these rhythmic displacements and articulations were accomplished via the use of certain words and phrases, a form of "confessional, jazz-like prose" ("Influences of the Beat Generation,' Internet) which takes the reader on a strange, musical trip, much like listening to a jazz band while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Thus, Kerouac's approach to utilizing the elements of American jazz inspired him to insert poetical, jazz-like assonance and alliteration into the text in order to give it rhythm and colorization, much like one would find in a composition by Charlie Parker under the cognomen of "Bebob deluxe."

Exactly why Kerouac decided to approach On The Road in such a manner has much to do with his personal sense of lyrical/poetical movement, wherein the words on the printed page exhibit a kind of syncopated rhythm which the reader can easily recognize via sounded musical beats and measures, strong at one point and weak at another, a type of rising and falling as with notes issuing from a saxophone played by Charlie Parker or piano notes so brilliantly executed by Thelonious Monk.

In On The Road, the character of Sal Paradise exclaims to his fellow passenger in the car, Dean Moriarty, while passing through the southern section of Louisiana, "Man, do you imagine what it would be like if we found a jazz joint in these swamps, with great big fellas… READ MORE

How to Reference "American Jazz in Jack Kerouac" Research Proposal in a Bibliography

Related Research Proposals:

American Literature Myth in the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg a Jungian Analysis Term Paper

American Literature

Allen Ginsberg's epic poem Howel, is not only a personal statement of society, but also a classic poem full of illusions to mythology and psychology. It is a… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (3556 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Literature / Poetry

---

Futile Quests of Sal Paradise Term Paper

' Ultimately, Chris did not tell his family about his plans and died alone, possibly from misunderstanding what were the right types of plants to eat while living in an… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1769 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Literature / Poetry

---

Old When the Music of Bob Dylan Essay

old when the music of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits introduced me to the poetry of Allen Ginsberg, and gradually to the entire Beat Movement. I had always been keen… read more

Essay 3 pages (1069 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Literature / Poetry

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>