is Beat language natural? Carolyn takes a stab

From: cajun@sas.upenn.edu (Carolyne Jun)
Subject: Re: Hepcats
To: afilreis@dept.english.upenn.edu (Al Filreis)
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 06:44:11 -0500 (EST)
Cc: 88v@dept.english.upenn.edu (88v class)
Sender: owner-88v@dept.english.upenn.edu
Precedence: bulk


Al Filreis wrote:
> | thought onto paper? Kerouac claims that writing can be free of
"inserting"
> | (conscious choice), but do y'all think this is true?  We batted this
aspect
> | of spontaneous writing back and forth tonight, and was proven to be a
hot
> | topic by the abundance of potato salad that was thrown.
> |
>
> This is the issue of the day. Do the beats seem to think that their
> language is natural? Is it possible to do what Kerouac wants--
>
>                       to refuse selectivity of expression  ...?
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I don't know if the beats think that their language is natural.  After
all, Kerouac states that they should follow "free deviation of mind," and
it is questionable whether this leads to natural language.  Their
language has constraints in that they omit periods and use "personal
secret idea-words." But- they still maintain that the flow from the mind
to the language is natural.  If the process has rules, can the language
be natural?

I think that no matter how much you try to hinder it, the mind presents a
filter to language.  The decision to say something, or write something,
creates a situation in which you select from your thoughts and ideas,
what exactly you want to say.  So, even if the beats were not trying to be
selective, they actually were in both their methodology and language.

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