| dc.description.abstract | This thesis aims to merge the gap in the literary relevance attributed to Allen Ginsberg’s utilization of sexual references and the effects of his portrayals of madness. Through a meta-perspective on existing research and their contextual relevance, I conduct a comparative interpretation of central poems from Howl and Kaddish. Specifically, this thesis explores the authorial aims and literary effects of Ginsberg’s utilization of transgressive sexual references and madness. I aim to show that the poetry’s transgressive aspects are deliberate, provocative moves aimed at challenging restrictive societal norms. Gregory Woods and Jonah Raskin established an important autobiographical perspective to Ginsberg’s sexual references and portrayal of madness that revealed aspects of the authorial aims of these elements. In contrast, Raymond-Jean Frontain argued that Ginsberg’s transgressive references to sexuality and madness were part of a deliberate rebellion against society’s attempted restriction of male sexuality. In critique of Ginsberg’s portrayal of madness, Loni Reynolds suggested that Ginsberg ultimately failed at his aim at glorifying deviancy. Michel Foucault provided a historical and contextual perspective to the thesis by outlining the historical development of an established discourse on sex that shaped the 1950s societal perceptions of sexuality and cognitive deviancy. Through interpretative readings of Howl and Kaddish I establish the deliberate authorial efforts to break down restrictive societal structures and undermine cultural taboos. Ginsberg’s deliberate flouting of cultural taboos renders his poetry a space void of restrictive societal structures, emancipating the discourse on sex and the culturally protected male body. | |
