A Countercultural Study on Kerouac'sThe Dharma Bums
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of English
Abstract
The present research work is a study to see Jack Kerouac's novelThe
Dharma Bumsas counterculture manifesto. The study focuses on the
aspects of the novel that directly oppose the contemporary American
capitalistic norms and values of the 1950s. The people that the novel talks
about are the beatniks who involve themselves in the practice of excessive
wanderings, Zen Buddhism, jazz music, haiku, sexual indulgences, drug
use and stealing to subvert the values of the mainstream culture. It
celebrates unchecked self-expression and serves a heavy blow to the values
of decency and decorum of the polite society. So, the present study opens
the door to see the text as a countercultural one. The researcher's sole
intention is to show how its author is challenging the established culture
for the eternal freedom.