The Origins of Bohemian
May 4, 2003 11:21 PM   Subscribe

bohemian rhapsody!
posted by y2karl (17 comments total)
 
Well that isn't irritating.
posted by xmutex at 11:23 PM on May 4, 2003


I've always liked this :

The one who uses parrhesia, the parrhesiastes, is someone who says everything he has in mind: he does not hide anything, but opens his heart and mind completely to other people through his discourse.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:32 PM on May 4, 2003


And furthur more
posted by y2karl at 11:39 PM on May 4, 2003


Forced use of title attributes considered harmful.
posted by Space Coyote at 12:31 AM on May 5, 2003


When I was in high school the dean of men would tell me that my hair was "too bohemian for this school" whenever it was too long...
posted by BackwardsHatClub at 12:32 AM on May 5, 2003


Come now--look at the restraint y2karl has shown in the amount of text in the title attributes!

Thank you, y2karl, I'll enjoy these.
posted by hippugeek at 12:35 AM on May 5, 2003


Well, bend me over and take me sideways! Y2K has finally found a topic in which I have some interest. ;-P
posted by mischief at 1:59 AM on May 5, 2003


I never thought of the Beats and the hippies as being part of the same idea of bohemia (aside from the fact that Kerouac and Kesey had the same chauffeur). Thanks for linking to Thomas Frank:
the [60s] counterculture, as a mass movement distinct from the bohemias that preceded it, was triggered at least as much by developments in mass culture (particularly the arrival of The Beatles in 1964) as changes at the grass roots. Its heroes were rock stars and rebel celebrities, millionaire performers and employees of the culture industry; its greatest moments occurred on television, on the radio, at rock concerts, and in movies.

The Beats wanted to create their own lives; the hippies wanted to be part of a movement. The Beats believed in personal transformation and independence from society; the hippies wanted to transform society into a place where they would have safety in numbers.

I think bohemia as an ideal ended when Kerouac drank himself to death, paranoid and furious at the endless stream of hippies that kept showing up on his doorstep to idolize him and copy his experiences. By the time I came along as a kid in the 70s, "bohemia" had already been repackaged into a set of fashion accessories.
posted by fuzz at 3:42 AM on May 5, 2003


The beats! The Diggers! Ken Kesey! Hippies! Oh boy! But my exploration will have to wait til later tonight unless I want to further myself along the continuum of higher intelligence and lower pay discussed in another thread today.

Just wanted to say thanks for a cool topic & the great links. And I see your posts got a haircut - this clipped, sporty, built for speed style is 2kool, y2karl, I like it. Bravo!
posted by madamjujujive at 7:10 AM on May 5, 2003


y2karlulated for those who hate title tags.

Last time I'll mention it, I promise.

posted by tss at 7:45 AM on May 5, 2003


tss, I, for one, bow to the y2karlulator. I use it often. :)
posted by jokeefe at 9:23 AM on May 5, 2003


Heh. I wish I coulda been a Mod. Shallow? Yeah...but the clothes!! The scoots!! The Music!!
posted by black8 at 9:27 AM on May 5, 2003


I think bohemia as an ideal ended when...

Bohemia as an ideal will never end, at least as long as current forms of urban civilization persist. As long as there are dives with an illicit (but not too dangerous) air, there will be young men and women with guitars (or current equivalent), tattered copies of Nietzsche (or c.e.), and surly looks to fill them. Some of them will even produce art worth paying attention to. A few of them will even grow up. Only the names change.

Great post, y2karl, and great resource, tss! Now no one has any reason to complain about title attributes.
posted by languagehat at 10:06 AM on May 5, 2003


Part of me doesn't even care what the post was actually about--I just think you've got to respect such a carefully crafted entry. The real value is the research, of course, and I know y2karl has a rep regarding title tags, etc., but I think this one really hangs together nicely.
posted by LairBob at 11:16 AM on May 5, 2003


This is wonderful, y2karl. I'm looking for my black beret and leotard right this second. I need them to wear to The American Museum of Beat Art.
posted by iconomy at 11:39 AM on May 5, 2003


*finger snap*
posted by y2karl at 1:20 PM on May 5, 2003


tss, thanks for the y2karlul8r! Is a Miguelulator too much to ask?
posted by samuelad at 11:00 PM on May 17, 2003


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