Final Project Proposal

a) I am interested in delving into the street culture of San Francisco through the graffiti and other mural-esque art throughout the city. I was extremely intrigued by the “Street Subversion” section in Reclaiming San Francisco and wanted to augment my essay with actual pictures of the art in question. I feel that this will, in turn, expose the culture of the city through the eyes of the artist and the subterranean.

b) I think that the essence of San Francisco lies in this “street culture” and thus I would be exploring the urban relationship to art and what it means on a greater more politicized scale.

c) I will be collecting photographs or images of particular pieces in order to visual represent what I am textually describing. I would be incorporating Reclaiming San Francisco but also I plan on extended my research on graffiti itself. Possibly by including its role in political, economic, and social commentary. Or more specifically how in some cases acts as a visual satire, to transform the established pedagogy of the institution.

d) My thesis I would have to say is indeed “in the working” but respectively I will be claiming a type of necessity in terms of graffiti art and the urban scene. Or quite possibly how graffiti or city art manages to speak for and define urban culture in many ways.

e) Alright, I quite conceivable see a couple issues arise when I brainstorm this project. I can see this topic being a slightly mundane in the sense that talking about graffiti art for 10 pages could get repetitious unless I incorporate a broader perspective. I think by approaching it as almost a subversive urban movement I would be able to discuss a lot of the political and social ramifications, which would give my overall argument more girth.

To be a Dharma Bum...

Questions: Did many ‘Beats’ have such religious struggles?

After reading Jack Kerouac’s Dharma Bums I find myself in a wake on conflicting emotions, evoked by the powerful images and strong religious undertones found in the text. The title itself is extremely revealing. It acts like an embodiment of beatitude, itself, Dharma meaning a universal truth or righteous duty and then bum, a contrasting idea of the down and out, someone on the fringe of society. “Bums” are not confined by the boundaries of society or the city, they are transient and can pass freely with nothing holding them back or keeping them in any one place. The two images merge to create a vision for the reader of possible spiritual medians, released from the suffering of attachment, able to recede into the wilderness on a pilgrimage to Buddha. This is especially apparent when he says: “But then I really believed in the reality of charity and kindness and humility and zeal and neutral tranquility and wisdom and ecstasy, and I believed that I was an oldtime bhiku in modern clothes wandering the world…in order to turn the wheel of the True Meaning or Dharma, and gain future Hero in Paradise” (5). The first time I read this it’s meaning didn’t really resonate, but going back through I was able to extract much more philosophical significance. It is as though Kerouac himself can see the convergence of both the beat movement and values with the Buddhist faith and the Dharma.
In many ways Kerouac’s Dharma Bums is about Ray Smith’s coming into the Buddhist way of life, but on a much deeper level in depicts a series of struggles or a duality of ideals; whether it is the conflicting aspects of Catholicism and Buddhism or the wilderness opposed to the city. In a way his concerns and fears capitalize on those of the era in question.

The Siezing of Native American Identity

After having viewed “Alcatraz is Not an Island” I found myself very intrigued by not only their conviction but (more so in the beginning of the occupation than towards the end), the discourses and public awareness it triggered in the realms of Native American rights and activism. One of the most amazing aspects about the occupation was that it not only changed the public’s opinion of the Native Americans but it also gave a lot of the Native American’s an opportunity to explore themselves and their culture.
With much of the enthusiasm for the occupation stemming from students in college, it seemed to give an empowering voice and sense of self to the youth. It seemed as though they were fighting for a culture and an identity that they had missed out on due to the “termination” policy and many of their parent’s decisions to not carry on with the traditions. I was most impressed and captivated by Richard Oakes and his passion for Native American culture and persistence. Even after his daughter died on the Alcatraz, and he could no longer stay, he still continued to fight for the cause and contribute in any way he could. The occupation of Alcatraz inspired many other similar acts of seizing other federal facilities in an attempt to protect the civil liberties and rights of the “urban Indian”. These non-violent protests and demonstrations acted as a catalyst in reawakening the Native American consciousness and reasserting their place as indigenous inhabitants.

Question: What caused Gary Snyder to leave the West Coast in 1956 and what attracted him to the Pacific Rim?

Pear's Soap and the Power of the White Fleet

Gray Brechin's Imperial San Francisco is an extensive survey of San Francisco history. I found the advertisements especially compelling because they reveal an imperialistic dynamic that seems to be overlooked today in a lot of ways. One of the ones that really spoke to me was the advertisement of the Pear Soap ad. The picture in itself is rather simplistic, but the images depicted mediate a very powerful message. A woman stands upon a bar of soap, in the background, sailing into the horizon, are the Great White Fleet, the caption reads: “Two of the world’s most useful and valued necessities to protect our women and keep them happy”. The woman’s dress is quite conservative, long, and white with a high ruffled neckline, wearing what look like Puritanical footwear, while she waves her handkerchief at the ships sail as they into the distance. The soap is from Great Britain which is the epitome of imperial expansion and colonialism at this time and also signifies racial purity. Solidifies this idea that cleanliness is associated with more civilized or western/ European sense of superiority. The next image I would like to draw attention to would be the ships themselves, they seem to represent ideas of power and security. The ships themselves have many colonial implications in terms of conquering territories and transporting commodities from the East and Europe. This idea of protecting this imperial city seems to be a consistent theme, not only in the advertisement I selected, but also in the undertone of the book as a whole.


Question: Does Brechin’s construction of San Francisco and its history imply anything about its future?

Delving into Richard Brautigan

After exploring much of Richard Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America and his poetry it is clear to see that he has a very distinct style. Upon first inspection his vocabulary and line structure seem quite elementary, and almost child-like, but he is able to capture the attention and stir great emotion within the reader (whether it be a positive or negative reaction is hard to say) but Brautigan does not sacrifice his poetic genius to make his reader feel more comfortable with the material. His poetry, as well as his prose, takes many risks with a variety of tones, structures, and themes. I suppose it is reasonable to suggest that aspects of Brautigan’s writing are a tad sexist, but I don’t believe that misogyny is a central theme to his writing by any means. He seems to regard women in very positive fashion, even if at times it seems a bit risqué. I think that this idea is visible in “I Live in the Twentieth Century”,
I live in the Twentieth Century
and you lie here beside me. You
were unhappy when you fell asleep.
There was nothing I could do about
it. I felt helpless. Your face
is so beautiful that I cannot stop
to describe it, and there’s nothing
I can do to make you happy while
you sleep.
In this selection many things stand out to me as being significant, especially when considering the gender dynamic. This is one of Brautigan’s, more subdued poems in comparison to some of his other work but I think it gives the reader great insight to his feelings regarding Marcia or more specifically, women as a whole. He uses very powerful word combinations to set his tone, like “I felt helpless” because he was unable to make her happy, or “Your face is so beautiful that I cannot stop to describe it” these passages show his tenderness as well as his adoration of feminine beauty. I think that the tone of this piece is quite warm and almost loving. His all encompassing gaze seems to protect her as she sleeps even if he can’t make her happy. To elaborate further on style, it is relatively simplistic but I believe that it is the simplicity that makes it so beautiful. He is able to illustrate complex emotions and themes through everyday language and basic structure, which have a great impact on his audience.


My question for the week is: What specific elements of Brautigan’s poetry/prose separate him from the Beats?

Question for October 9, 2008

What or who were Brautigan's primary influences when writing "Trout Fishing in America"?

Accessible Beauty

Ferlinghetti’s “San Francisco Poems”, incorporates poetry from 1955 to 2001. He focuses much of his energy on the mood and tone by setting up descriptive scenes with very powerful language. He uses fog, the park, and city lights throughout the collection to instill dramatic images into the readers mind and in a way romanticize about the city, all of its wonder and mystery: “And then the veil of light of early evening/And then another scrim/when the new night fog floats in/And in that vale of light/the city drifts anchorless upon the ocean”. In his earliest poem, “A North Beach Scene”, Ferlinghetti paints a beautiful picture of the city from the harbor. He tropes San Francisco as an island, an urban Eden approaching “kingdom come”. This divine or poetic- sense of the city seems to permeate throughout his works, as he constantly describes the city with such vivid detail that the scenes come alive for the reader. Ferlinghetti embraces the idea of San Francisco as a ‘contado’, even in his older years his feeling regarding the city and what it stands for don’t seem to change. He saw San Francisco as the cutting edge of social innovation and was able to capture these ideals within his poetry.
Ferlinghetti’s ability to write such accessible poetry made the themes he deals with more tangible to the reader. I believe that it is this accessibility that really make his words come alive. In “Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes”, Ferlinghetti uses a pretty common scenario (two cars stopped at a light) to illustrate a much more powerful point. He encapsulates the beauty of a moment, “And the very red light for an instant/ holding all four close together as if anything at all were possible”. Here he seems to allude to the idea of the stop light as an equalizer, holding both vehicles (the garbage truck and the Mercedes) savoring this instant, this promise.