Spontaneous Prose and Cultural Negotiation: Analyzing Jack Kerouac’s Poetic Contributions

The study aims to explore the influence of Jack Kerouac’s French-Canadian heritage and American upbringing on his poetry, emphasizing his bicultural identity. Predominantly recognized for his pivotal role in the Beat Generation and his novel “On the Road”, J.Kerouac’s poetry offers a less examined yet richly textured site for understanding his negotiation of bicultural identity and linguistic creativity. The research focuses on a detailed analysis of J.Kerouac’s lesser-studied poetic works, rather than his more renowned prose, to better comprehend his literary contributions.
This research adopts a hybrid analytical framework that merges in-depth textual scrutiny with comparative literary examination of selected poems. The study utilizes this dual-method approach to dissect and understand the interplay between J.Kerouac’s bicultural background and his literary expressions in terms of themes, stylistic expressions, and linguistic creativity, to investigate how J.Kerouac’s bicultural lens shapes his thematic concerns, stylistic choices, and linguistic innovations.
The analysis reveals J.Kerouac as a bridge between cultural and linguistic divides, demonstrating his unique contribution to the broader discourse on bilingual and bicultural literature. The findings depict J.Kerouac as a mediator between cultural and linguistic boundaries, employing his poetry to explore themes of displacement, identity, and cultural negotiation.
Anyway, his poetry not only reflects thetensions and harmonies of his dual identity but also engages in linguistic experimentation that underscores the creative potential of navigating between languages. This study enhances understanding of J.Kerouac’s literary legacy beyond his role in the Beat Generation and emphasizes his relevance to discussions on multiculturalism, demonstrating the creative possibilities of bicultural and bilingual literary expression. As the global literary landscape continues to evolve, encompassing the complex mosaic of cultural and linguistic identities, J.Kerouac’s work serves as a guiding beacon in navigating the convergences and divergences of language and culture in the richly diverse field of literary expression.