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"See more glass" : reading the counterculture through J.D. Salinger
Author
Foo, Mau Reen
Supervisor
Lumsden, Robert
Abstract
What is a counterculture? Are the modem examples of the Beats and the Hippies true counterculturalists, or otherwise? Dictionaries and literary glossaries throw out nebulous definitions of this term, sometimes conflating counterculture with subculture, anti-system and some such terms. This paper sets out to clarify what a true counterculture is by laying down the principles on which it is built. Specifically, we read J. D. Salinger's writing as a refractive glass that give a re-visioning and chipping away of the conventional conception of the counterculture and that which show the anti-establishment writers of Jack Kerouac and Ken Kesey as pseudo-counterculturalists. A true counterculture is one that is centred in Christ.
This discussion demonstrates that Salinger's works are representative of the bona fide counterculture in three aspects: in rejecting the Protestant religions, he directs us to-Christ instead of Eastern mysticism with his unique blend of "Christianised Eastern mysticism"; his writing show a liberation of women by restoring them to the Edenic roles in the Bible; finally, he shows us that a truly different culture fights against the Machine by focusing on Christ in order to stay authentically free from it. As we progress further into the twenty-first century of exponential consumerism, commercialism, globalisation and individualism, the need to sift the counterculture from dominant society becomes more and more urgent. In order to resist being swept away by the tides of the different schools of thoughts, philosophies and teachings, Salinger advocates, subtly but forcefully, that we need to attain an intimate and personal knowledge of the Person of Christ to live lives of integrity and non-compromise.
This discussion demonstrates that Salinger's works are representative of the bona fide counterculture in three aspects: in rejecting the Protestant religions, he directs us to-Christ instead of Eastern mysticism with his unique blend of "Christianised Eastern mysticism"; his writing show a liberation of women by restoring them to the Edenic roles in the Bible; finally, he shows us that a truly different culture fights against the Machine by focusing on Christ in order to stay authentically free from it. As we progress further into the twenty-first century of exponential consumerism, commercialism, globalisation and individualism, the need to sift the counterculture from dominant society becomes more and more urgent. In order to resist being swept away by the tides of the different schools of thoughts, philosophies and teachings, Salinger advocates, subtly but forcefully, that we need to attain an intimate and personal knowledge of the Person of Christ to live lives of integrity and non-compromise.
Date Issued
2002
Call Number
PS3537.A426 Foo
Date Submitted
2002