William Burroughs in front of the Beat Hotel
(Naked Lunch Launch series, Paris, October 1959) by Brion Gysin

ENGL272-04 The Beat Generation's French Connection: Artaud, Genet, Rimbaud, Sade and the Parisian Beat Hotel

Professor Robert Barsky

There are remarkable connections between the Beats and the French, both in terms of French Quebec (via Jack Kerouac, whose first language was French and whose family hearkened from Quebec) and through the many ties they had, personally and intellectually, with France (and Algeria). In this course we will explore these overlaps by discussing key contemporaries, as well as an array of individuals who had personal relations with French and francophone literature and ideas.

The approach we will take in this class reflects my growing belief that combining passionate academic pursuits with ludic, creative liberation, offers one powerful answer to the question I've been posing in my own teaching: 'What type of classroom setting and pedagogical approach is appropriate to the nature of the human mind, and in particular, the specific qualities with which each individual is endowed at birth?' The approach I've taken is captured by Barry Miles' description of the Beat Hotel in Paris: "The cheap rent and permissive atmosphere fostered a climate of freedom and creativity unfettered by financial concerns. As non-French speakers, they had no involvement with French culture and the issues of the day, nor were they restricted by rules with which the French lived, simply because they were ignorant of them. As Jean-Jacques Lebel put it, 'They were on an island, isolated in this magic little paradise full of rats and bad smells. But it was paradisical because it gave them the green light to be themselves without having to confront America.' The Beat Hotel offered the freedom to be idle or to work with passionate intensity, to while away the day in cafés or to talk through the night. It was a place where ideas could be developed in a community removed from conventional morality in the manner of the residents of the famous Impasse du Doyenné, the first bohemian colony." The assumption of course is that this idealized distinctive non-authoritarian setting will lead to the deepest, most passionate and most creative work we can do, individually, and as a group called ENGLISH 244.

time: Tuesdays 3:10-6:00 PM Furman Hall room 209

Office hours, Furman Hall 219: Tuesday and Thursday 2-3, and by appointment.

Books (all available at the VU bookstore): There is an enormous amount of reading for this course, and you may not get through it all; however, I urge you to buy all the books, and try to get through all or as many as you can. If you need assistance in procuring copies, I’m happy to help out; the suggested editions are available in the bookstore.

Tears of Eros, by Georges Bataille
Theater & Its Double, by Antonin Artaud
Portable Beat Reader, ed by Ann Charters
Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus
Declared Enemy, by Jean Genet
The Beats: From Kerouac to Kesey, an Illustrated Journey through the Beat Generation, by Mike Evans:
Philosophy in the Bedroom and Crimes of Love, by Marquis de Sade
Paul Cezanne, by Meyer Schapiro

Assignments:
Four short assignments on issues and texts discussed in class. There is no “one way” to do these assignments, the work you do should reflect your own engagement and commitment to the material. Given the vast array of texts, I must ask that you stick to the works that have been assigned in this course, even if you choose a somewhat more ‘creative’ approach to presenting your ideas. I will not favor theoretical or literary or creative work, but rather am looking for your own ‘voice’, your own set of questions, and our peculiar and peculiarly situated approach to the material at hand. Two of the assignments should be historical, descriptive, critical, in short, academic in the way that we are defining it in this course; the other two assignments should be more experimental, and I will ask that you present your "findings" twice this semester, mid-way through, and at the end. Some literary experiments will be discussed in course, others are offered up at the end of the syllabus by way of example, but there's no limit here, just use what we're learning together to inspire your work.

Grading:
Each written assignment is worth 20%
Participation and one short oral presentation of your "findings" or creative project on the last day, 20%

Please Note that computers or other portable electronics are not to be used in class.

Week-by-week schedule (Tuesdays 3:10-6;00PM)

January 19th: Introduction: The Beat Generation and the Francophone Worlds with which they had truck
Welcome to the Beat Hotel, Vanderbilt University!
The Beat Hotel documentary (trailer)

January 26th: 9, rue Git-le-Coeur, and -- what is it about Paris?

Texts: Marquis de Sade, The Crimes of Love; Philosophy in the Bedroom; 9, rue git-le-couer, Beat Hotel 1ff.; Brion Gyson on "The Beat Hotel", Portable Beat Reader, 473ff.

February 2nd: Kaddish and the work of Allen Ginsberg
texts: Allen Ginsberg's "Kaddish" in Portable Beat Reader p. 71ff. and available on-line with other poems; "Kaddish" in The Beat Hotel pp. 25ff.; Artaud, "No More Masterpieces"; "Towards a Theater of Cruelty".
video: "The Seashell and the Clergyman", directed in 1927 by Germaine Dulac, after a surrealist screenplay by Antonin Artaud. The first authentic surrealistic movie. Here is Artaud himself, talking about 'caca' in a renowned radio broadcast, with the translation here. Here is the conclusion, again, in his own voice (and translated in the 'Conclusion').

February 9th: Expatriates in France
texts: "Expatriates" in The Beat Hotel pp. 55ff.; Jean Genet, "The Balcony" (scene from the play) and Declared Enemy.

February 16th: "Bomb" and the work of Gregory Corso

Texts: "Bomb", The Beat Hotel pp. 78ff.; Gregory Corso in The Portable Beat Reader 172-186; first discusssion of Bataille.
Texts: Corso reading "Bomb"
* first assignment due in class.

February 23rd: Fellow Writers and Inspirations
Texts: "Fellow Writers", in Beat Hotel pp. 110ff; Albert Camus, Myth of Sisyphus; Meyer Schapiro, Cezanne.
fyi: http://www.artlurker.com/2009/09/the-rape-tunnel-by-sheila-zareno/

March 2nd: NO CLASS, to be replaced by Bouchard talk, and Szanto talk!

March 9th: Spring Break!

March 15th and 16th: Meetings in room FM219 to discuss papers (9AM-6PM Monday, 9:00AM-2:00PM Tuesday)

March 16th: THE FIRST PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI0ciYJKBxQ
http://www.ubu.com/film/burroughs_cut.html
texts: "Cut-ups" in Beat Hotel 192ff.
SECOND PAPER DUE in class (note new date)

Thursday, March 18th
5PM room FM209 (usual classroom)
George Szanto talks about writing fiction, and reads from his new novel; check out http://www.georgeszanto.com

March 23rd: Soft Machine and Dreamachine
texts: "Soft Machine" and "Fade-Out" in Beat Hotel 226ff; http://web.archive.org/web/20080622125626/brainwashed.com/h3o/dreamachine/booklet.html
website: http://spacecollective.org/FirstDark/3291/-What-Are-We-Here-For-We-Are-Here-To-Go-
videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M5__YXOIQ8&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-3-HM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHSVUPrdDFg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwA3BWapdK0

March 30th: Jack in and from Quebec
* third assignment due in class.

Jack Kerouac's Quebec roots, described to Radio Canada by Jack himself:
http://archives.radio-canada.ca/c_est_arrive_le/03/07/

and newly-discovered materials, in French, by Kerouac:
http://www.ledevoir.com/culture/livres/155613/les-50-ans-d-on-the-road-kerouac-voulait-ecrire-en-francais

Class will be followed (at 5PM) by a talk by:

Gérard Bouchard, Ph.D. Co-Chair, Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Difference

Mr Gérard Bouchard Historian and sociologist Gérard Bouchard is a lecturer in the Département des sciences humaines at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Comparative Dynamics of Collective Imaginary. Professor Bouchard obtained a master’s degree in sociology from Université Laval (1968) and a doctorate in history from the Université de Paris (1971).

His research covers social, demographic and cultural history and human genetics. Through the creation of the BALSAC register, he initiated an array of research programs in sociology, demographics, ethnology and human genetics (population genetics and genetic epidemiology). The collaboration stemming from his research led to the establishment in 1972 of the Institut interuniversitaire de recherches sur les populations (IREP), which Professor Bouchard headed until 1998. His current research focuses on the collective imaginary. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

Professor Bouchard is the author and co-author of 250 scientific articles and over 30 books, including La construction d'une culture (1993), La nation québécoise au futur et au passé (1999), Dialogue sur les pays neufs (1999), Genèse des nations et cultures du nouveau monde : Essai d’histoire comparée (2000), Les deux chanoines (2003) and La culture québécoise est-elle en crise? (2007). He has also published two novels, Mistouk (2002) and Pikauba (2005).

Dr. Bouchard is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Prix Léon-Gérin awarded by the Québec government (1993) and the 2000 Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction. He is a member of the Académie des lettres du Québec and the Royal Society of Canada. He is also the recipient of the Chevalier medal of the Légion d’honneur de France.

April 6th: Olympia Books and censorship, in France and the USA
Article about Olympia Press: http://www.salon.com/weekly/olympia960729.html

April 13th: Tangiers and the South of France
Text: Meyer Schapiro, Cézanne.

Jack Kerouac, Peter Orlovsky, William S Burroughs, late March 1957, shortly after Allen & Peter had arrived from the US. Kerouac was soon to leave for travels in Europe, and Allen & Peter would stay on in Tangier till June. c. Allen Ginsberg Estate.

April 20th: Conclusions

April 27th: Presentations! at 2315 Eastland Avenue, 4PM-9PM.
* Final assignment due, including the second presentations of findings.

Some experiments, to explore and inspire:
cut-up machine: http://www.23degrees.net/cutup/
dream machine: http://www.netliberty.net/dreamachine.html
Brion Gysin's dreamachine: http://www.10111.org/0.php?wakka=Dreamachine
How to build a dream machine: http://www.interpc.fr/mapage/westernlands/dreamachine.html

supplementary work:
"Ports of Entry" and the work of William S. Bourroughs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58T3m1ovla4&feature=related
Texts: "Ports of Entry" in Beat Hotel 142ff; George Bataille, Tears of Eros.

Texts: George Bataille, Tears of Eros; "Through the Magic Mirror" in Beat Hotel pp. 160ff; William S. Burroughs in Portable Beat Reader, 104-145
videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_cXYr8pAA&feature=related