WILLIAMS JEFFERY L
Congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
On the Road as Critique: Subverting the American Dream
Lugar:
Rafaela
Reunión:
Jornada; XL Jornada de la Asociación Argentina de Estudios Americanos; 2008
Institución organizadora:
Asociación Argentina de Estudios Americanos
Resumen:
_On the Road_ functions as a
modernist work in addition to a key work within beat literature. As both a
modernist text and beat "novel" it works to subvert the traditional
notion of the American dream and offers an alternative to the 1950s conformist
aspects of the American dream; it functions as a critique, demonstrating
shortfalls and exposing the traditional American Dream as a myth. There is no
one single American dream in Kerouac's world. The American dream becomes a
bright pearl with as many shining reflections as there are individuals. It
becomes a road of many roads with a variety of hero travelers. Most of the
heroes that populate Kerouac's novel are the migrant workers, hoboes, drifters,
jazz musicians, jazz aficionados, prostitutes and thieves. There are members of
mainstream America,
but they all have individualistic traits and/or were once drifters, hoboes, or
hitchhikers. This presentation examines the subversive nature of _On the Road_,
its many heroes and alternatives to the American dream.
