Allusion and Baraka: Rejecting the Norm
The 1950s and 60s were not nearly as well-connected as everything is in the 21st century. It is this lack of interconnectedness that led Diane DiPrima to the belief that “‘only a small handful’ of people” were “living a bohemian life in the city” (332). It would not be a stretch to believe that Amiri Baraka, who met DiPrima and started a publication in the City with her, once felt this isolation as well. When DiPrima and Baraka discovered the writing of Beats such as Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Kerouac, both expressed their belief that they’d found “fellow travellers” (335). Baraka himself referred to the works of Kerouac and Snyder as discovering “a sense of community growing among some of the young writers, and I was one of them” (339). Baraka viewed himself as one of the writers “literally not included in the mainstream of American life” (339). In his poem “In Memory of Radio,” Baraka demonstrates through Allusion the rejection of mainstream American society, and his solidarity with fellow bohemians of the period.
While Baraka’s reference to “Jack Kerouac” in his poem “In Memory of Radio” may seem like an innocuous mention of a friend and a fellow writer, in light of this historical context it shows itself to be much more. The speaker of the poem places Kerouac in agreement with himself after positing the question
“who has ever stopped to think of the divinity of Lamont Cranston?” in the answer “Only Jack Kerouac… & me” (340).
This not only shows the solidarity in belief of this one isolated figure the speaker is referencing, but extrapolates to a larger solidarity of bohemian society as a whole. This is especially evident when the speaker places this belief in the
“divinity” of “Lamont Cranston” in contrast to “the rest of you,” who the speaker states “probably had on WCBS and Kate Smith” (340).
The speaker places the bohemian beliefs of himself and Kerouac against the listening preferences of mainstream American society, who listen to the news and the singers on the radio. The fact that the speaker rejects the mainstream is evident when he calls both “WCBS” and “Kate Smith” “unattractive” (340).
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As Diane DiPrima believed, and a belief that was likely shared by Jones before discovering their fellow writers, they were isolated in their beliefs and Bohemian lifestyles. The discovery of these “beats” opened their horizons to a community of “fellow travellers” who likewise rejected mainstream American society of the period and found it “unattractive.” It is in evoking one of these “fellow travellers” that Baraka demonstrates his solidarity alongside them, his rejection of mainstream American culture, and even his distaste for it. By placing the bohemian Kerouac and himself against mainstream icons and news, Baraka does not show the rejection of just “WCBS” and “Kate Smith,” but all of what mainstream society consumes.
Baraka, Amiri. “In Memory of Radio.” The Portable Beat Reader, edited by Ann Charters, Penguin Books, 1992, pp. 340–341.
Charters, Ann. “A Few Blue Words to the Wise: Other Fellow Travelers.” The Portable Beat Reader, edited by Ann Charters, Penguin Books, 1992, pp. 331–338.
Charters, Ann. “Amiri Baraka.” The Portable Beat Reader, edited by Ann Charters, Penguin Books, 1992, pp. 339–40.
