Countering the Counterculture: Rereading Postwar American Dissent from Jack Kerouac to Tomas Rivera - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0299192849 ISBN 13: 9780299192846

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003

Synopsis

Rebelling against bourgeois vacuity, the Beat writers and artists have long symbolized a spirit of freedom and radical democracy. Manuel Luis Martinez offers an eye-opening challenge to this characterization of the Beats, juxtaposing them against Chicano nationalists like Raul Salinas, Jose Montoya, Luis Valdez, and Oscar Acosta and Mexican migrant writers in the United States, like Tomas Rivera and Ernesto Galarza. In an innovative rereading Martinez uncovers reactionary strains in the Beats' vision of freedom, and he brings out the complex stances of Latinos on democracy and progressive culture. He argues that, of the three groups, the migrant writers presented a distinctly radical and inclusive vision of democracy that was truly countercultural.

About this title

About the Author

Manuel Luis Martinez is assistant professor of English at Indiana University. His novel Crossing was chosen as one 1998's Best Books by Writers of Color by the PEN American Center. His most recent novel is Drift.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0299192849
• ISBN 13: 9780299192846
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360