Sometimes in a conversation between people you can hear a word like "hipster." Perhaps someone will not understand its meaning. In fact, beatniks are a term that was coined to refer to representatives of a particular culture. This word comes from the name of the bit generation, the mention of which appeared in the 1940s. The term was first proposed in 1958, it meant a certain social layer of youth of the XX century, which was characterized by an asocial behavior and the rejection of the traditional cultural values of the people.
How did this term appear?
It is no secret that the beat generation from English translates as “broken generation”. This definition was first mentioned by Jack Kerouac. He is considered one of the main figures in this direction. According to his theory, this generation of people replaced the previous one, which he called "disappeared." You might think that the term “hipster” was coined by Kerouac, but this is not entirely true. This word appeared a little later, in 1958. Interestingly, in the formation of this word from the Russian language, the suffix “-nik” was borrowed. The first part of the word, that is, beat, on the slang of jazz musicians of that time had the meaning of “poverty” and “despair”. However, Jack Kerouac himself never recognized the term and did not find it too suitable.
The meaning of the word "hipster"
If you follow the initial definition of the term, beatniks are young people with a beard, wearing sandals, they can often be seen staggering around the city, sitting in coffee houses. They were mainly described as parasites and fans of jazz music. This term often had a negative connotation, had a slightly offensive meaning, and in a sense was considered a mockery. Thus, we can say that beatniks are a subculture that appeared in the middle of the 20th century and became widespread.
According to other sources, this term did not have an exact meaning and originally served to refer to many people who were in any way connected with the artistic environment of New York. After some time, by the end of the 1950s, this term began to mean young people who did not have much interest in the American dream - that is, a successful career, home, car, and other material objects.
Typical hipster look
As mentioned above, beatniks are more a way of life, and not even a style. Such a lifestyle implied a peculiar type of clothing. Basically, the beatniks dressed very fancifully, they were immediately noticeable in a large mass of people. Often the appearance of representatives of this direction was confused with students of art academies, who were also fans of jazz music.
The main item of the hipster's clothing was a black sweater with a high neck or a black turtleneck. Berets were also popular, sometimes hipsters wore white T-shirts, always without drawings and inscriptions. Often representatives of this direction carried 2 drums (bongos) with them. Sunglasses are another attribute of bit direction, they should have been impervious. There was no particular hairstyle, mostly they wore long hair to the shoulders, most often straight. The most popular shoes among hipsters are black leather boots in various variations.
If we talk about women's clothing, then the girls mostly went in black tights, leotards and sweaters. Capri and long skirts were also popular, again black.
The most famous representatives of this direction
Of course, there were a lot of representatives of this direction. However, certain individuals are considered basic. It should be noted that the beatnik poetry occupies one of the central places in their culture. Therefore, it is not surprising that the people who stood at the origins of the bit direction were mostly writers and poets. So these are 3 people: Lucien Carr, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. After some time, this list was replenished with another name - William Burroughs. It may seem that it does not play such an important role, but its significance in the development of bit culture is great. As you know, beatniks are not just clothes or appearance, it is a lifestyle and a direction of thought, its own culture and poetry. We understand further.
"Anthology of the beatnik poetry": what is it
Over the long time of its existence, the beatnic culture has generated a lot of literary works, both in prose and in poetry. A lot of representatives of the bit direction wrote on the topic of this lifestyle. Therefore, in 2004 a book was released, which became the first collection of hipster poetry, as well as some theoretical materials about the bit direction. The Beatles Anthology is considered the largest publication that has been published during the entire existence of this lifestyle in Russian. Interestingly, many of the poems published in this book were translated into Russian for the first time.
The book also contains some biographical essays about famous beatnik writers. Reading this huge collection of unique materials, you can really plunge into the culture of the beatniks and understand what thoughts and ideas were relevant for them, as well as imbue with the meaning of the direction itself.