A Blakean Approach to William S. Burroughs’s "Naked Lunch" How Did the Work of William Blake Influence the Beat Movement?

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject English - History of Literature, Eras, , language: English, abstract: This term paper investigates Blakean elements in William S.Burrough’s work "Naked Lunch" and Blake’s influence on the 1950s Beat Movement in the USA. One of the Beat movement’s main themes is the expansion of human experience and perception. Literature intends to show its recipients, which are considered corrupted by established, commercial media, a considerably liberal attitude. The Beat movement origins in the USA of the 1950s, a period which was shaped by the expansion of military capacities, isolationism, mass media, post-war circumstances and the threats of the Cold War. Those factors resulted in an emotional state of anxiety, depression and paranoia. In the course of the decade authors intended to constitute a movement against those contemporary circumstances. Thereby, the desire for social, political, sexual and spiritual freedom found expression through unconventional art forms which were considered shocking or even obscene among the American bourgeoise. For that purpose, the characteristics of the Beat movement will be outlined at the beginning. Subsequently, the author presents a brief insight into Blake’s concept of politics, religion and freedom. Finally, it will be demonstrated how Blakean ideas contribute to Burroughs’ novel. Thereby, the focus lies on spirituality, repression and sexuality.