Classe: III-IV-V Sc. Prof.ssa Carmen Gresia

ON THE ROAD

Edward Hopper, Gas, 1940

ON THE ROAD

• The US “on-the-road theme”

• The US “on-the-road generation”

• The US novel On the Road (see following file)

JOURNEY as a means to discover the surrounding world and oneself

Existential experience for those who choose to travel in order to react against the restlessness and unsatisfaction deriving from daily routine and securities.

Travelling implies accepting the possibility of unpredictable encounters and situations so as to test oneself and to acquire a deeper knowledge of the world and of oneself

It is also a spiritual journey/adventure since, involving different experiences, usually imples a deep change in the traveller.

JOURNEY in the US culturepursuit of happiness and freedom

THE AMERICAN DREAMJOURNEY as DNA of the USA

The United States originates from a journey

First English colonies in northern America(i.e. Pilgrim Fathers, 1620).New England: land of opportunities and rebirth

The Frontier myth/Go west incitement : the journey in the journey.Once settled in the new land, the Northern Americans went west to pursue their happiness in unknown lands.

Frontier= the edge of the settled country where unlimited free land was available and, consequently, unlimited opportunityWild West Frontier: WEST portrayed as open space and as the effective place of happiness and freedom

GOING WEST/ADVANCING means to conquer unexplored lands (this idea is also reflected in national sports).

GO WEST: American FootballGame philosophy:

Gradual conquest of the land/field:

Points are scored by advancing the ball into the opponent’s end zone for a touchdown (worth 6 points) or by kicking the ball from the playing field through the raised vertical posts in the back of that end zone for a field goal (worth 3 points).

American football players are in some cases allowed to throw the ball forward whilst in rugby league fortward passing is always illegal.

Coast to Coast: BasketGame Philosophy:

Gradual conquest of the land/court

Each team tries to score by shooting a ball through a hoop or basket.

When a player secures a rebound or gets a steal and immediately sprints or passes the ball quickly down court, a slang term is used to describe this succesful offensive play strating at one end of the cort and finishing at the opposite one: COAST TO COAST.

It is a sort of revival of the American frontier myth and of the coast-to-coast ‘migration’

COAST TO COAST: ROUTE 66 THE MOTHER ROAD

U.S. Route 66 or simply Route 66

1926-1985 (as of 1985 replaced by the Interstate Highway System)

From Chicago to Santa Monica, through the States of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

Overall length: 3.755 km (2.347 miles).

Now known as "Historic Route 66”.

Road of many small family-run (mama-and-papa) enterprises

Route 66 Road of the emigrations towards the Wild West

…. towards Eldorado, California, the beaches and the cinema of Hollywood

… towards the ‘pursuit of happiness’

JOURNEY = ESCAPE

Restless life and wanderings across America

through bus rides and hitchhiking escapades…

experiencing any kind of freedom and rejecting any kind of restrictions

Pursuing a natural, spontaneous and authentic way of life.

The 50s

The Generation Gap starts

‘Fathers’

Representative the middle-class

Conformism and good-manners

Uniformity to mass society

‘Children’

The Rebel and the Drifter

Mood of irriverence and rebellion

quest for self-expression and liberation

Individualism

The ‘50s (The Tranquilizzed Fifties)

Sudden blossoming of mass prosperity:

Families have cars, phones, washing-machines, refrigerators, their own houses in the suburbia and go shopping in the new ‘shopping malls’

Education bigger affluence in universities and college which receive the government financial support.

Full employment, good wages,

public services, technical improvements

The ‘50s: social phenomena

CONSUMERISM

Television as revolution

Change in style with popular series and quiz shows.

1950s advertisement for Coca-Cola

The ‘50s: the young and their tastes

• Great interests in music, fashion, drinks and vehicles.

• Working-class adolescents spending money on their pleasures.

• Leisure activities dancing and listening to rock’n’roll.

Poster for Rebel without a cause (1955)

Invented by Kerouac in 1948.

Introduced to the public by an article on

“New York Times Magazine”.

BEAT =

1. tired reaction against capitalism and

Puritan middle-class values.

2. beatific Kerouac’s reverence for certain

aspects of Catholicism and Buddhism.

The term “Beat Generation”

A beatnik rock’n’roll compilation

Suffix -nik borrowed from Sputnik, a

Russian satellite. (1951)

Their main features: illegal way of life,

acting on first impulses.

They advocated escapism and created

underground culture.

The beatniks...

A group of Beatniks, 1950s.

Spiritual and sexual liberation. Liberation from censorship. Decriminalization of the use of marijuana. The evolution of rhythm and blues into

rock and roll. The spread of ecological consciousness. Respect for land and indigenous peoples

and creatures “The Earth is an Indian thing”.

...and their influence upon artistic movements

The Hip, a 1986 book about the Beat Generation

The on-the-road theme in the American culture

The Road in movies

The Road in music

The Road in painting (roadside landscape)

Music on the Road

Charlie Parker

Elvis Presley

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before they’re forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,

The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Quante strade deve percorrere un uomo

prima che tu possa chiamarlo uomo?

E quanti mari deve navigare una bianca colomba

prima di dormire sulla sabbia?

E quante volte devono volare le palle di cannone

prima di essere proibite per sempre?

La risposta, amico mio, soffia nel vento,

la risposta soffia nel vento.

Blowin’ in the wind (Bob Dylan)

The On-the-Road Generation

Starting from the Sixties, a widespread countercultural movement

grew, mixing opposition to war, black nationalism and feminism.

The ‘60s: the young

• Sensitive to their age spiritual

problems

Commitee for nuclear

disarmament and pacifist marches

(1959-1975: Vietnam War)

• Mood of irriverence and rebellion

university occupations and

demonstrations.

A student demonstration

THE USA ON THE ROAD

Pacifist marches and feminist movements

WOODSTOCK (1969)