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Tuesday, 10 October 2006 15:05 |
 | | David Forbes |
To every authority there exists a rebel. Sometimes, there are whole cultures of them ÇƒÓ and thatës when the fun really starts.
Those cultures, from ancient myth up to the present day, are the focus of "Counterculture Through the Ages: from Abraham to Acid House" (Villard Press, 402 pages, $15.95) by Ken Goffman and Dan Joy.
If youëre looking for a sober and objective history of the ways in which people thumb their noses at their respective societies, look elsewhere. While meticulously researched, this is, from the introduction on, an attempt to rescue the word and concept of counterculture from its largely pejorative use in the modern day. For those that equate the word "counterculture" with "dirty hippie," the authors seem intent on smacking them with some appropriately odd object and pointing to a history that includes the Socratic circle, Taoist mystics, Enlightenment satirists, glam rockers, ravers and, yes, hippies.
In
fact, the authors are admitted denizens of the counterculture
themselves. Goffman, often writing under the alias R.U. Sirius, was one
of the co-founders of the magazine Mondo 2000, part of the digital
counterculture of the early 1990s. Heës since moved on to a role as
cultural commentator, one-time satirical presidential candidate and
co-author of drug guru Timothy Learyës last book.
Joy, meanwhile,
a long-time Leary confidant, has edited editions of "The Psychedelic
Encyclopedia." In fact, in his last days, Leary helped develop some of
the concepts for this book and wrote one of the introductions.
But if youëre
expecting a drug-fueled rant, think again. One of the bookës greatest
strengths is that it manages to successfully and coherently tell the
story of humanityës tendency to give authority the finger and embrace
creativity while ... well, keeping the fun of the story alive.
Because
honestly, it would be a shame if a history like this didnët have a
madcap sense of humor about the events it relates. Stories of Zen monks
enlightening each other by abrupt cracks to the head with sticks and
Surrealists starting food fights in the halls of ritzy magazines should
be fun and Goffmanës prose gets that to shine through.
In an era where
unrelenting seriousness at times seems to be the hallmark of political
discussion and debate, if this book injects a little humor into
would-be rebels, it canët be a bad thing.
From the
introduction, Goffman makes it clear that his intent is not simply to
compile a list of people who have rebelled. The countercultures in this
book, despite their vast separations by time, belief and geography,
have a few similar traits: asserting the primacy of individuality,
challenging authoritarianism and embracing individual and social
change. In Joyës introduction, he waxes poetic about these goals as
"the light ÇƒÓ the shining forth of unfettered individual expression, the
radiant effulgence of human creativity unchained from external agenda
and controls."
Itës worth
noting that Goffmanës introduction grumbles about Joyës as being "too
damned optimistic." The dynamic tension between those two perspectives
is probably what helps in large part to make the book so readable.
If youëre
wondering about the downside of such endeavors, donët worry, the
authors go into detail chronicling those, too. Thereës a whole chapter
that could easily have been re-titled "how the ǃÚ60s went wrong and
everyone went crazy." Even Socrates gets some criticism. However, with
their obvious agenda, they definitely view the legacy of the worldës
countercultures as far more pro than con.
Experiments, they point out,
by their very nature often fall short of their goals.
Given the many
negative stereotypes and views surrounding countercultures, this book
does serve as a useful rebuttal by pointing out the good social changes
and countless cultural innovations that those cultures produced ÇƒÓ many
of which we take for granted.
Even Abraham
("the first dropout") and the founders of the American Revolution get
swept up into the authorsë story, in a way proving this point.
All of the above
were, after all, rebels. All were attacked at one time or another. On
top of that, they were all more contemptuous of the establishment than
many who idolize them today would like to remember.
The book is
probably worth its cost for these sections alone, shining light on
tales of Abraham as an iconoclast and trickster or digging up James
Madisonës viciously witty (and still funny) attacks on organized
religion.
For all that it
gets right, there are some shortcomings here. I understand why the
authors give so much attention to the late ǃÚ50s and ǃÚ60s (about a third
of the book), due to those eras massive influence, but it has the
result of cramming in more recent countercultures at the very end,
limiting them to brief sections. To their credit, the authors
acknowledge the history as incompleteǃÓthey had to leave something out ǃÓ
but it would have been nice if some of the more modern developments had
been given more attention.
But what they
get right is important. As a primer that pulls together so many diverse
strains of thought into one rollicking tale, this book is invaluable in
shining light on how such rebels influenced one another and future
generations.
Also, while much
talk about globalization laments the apparent infection of cultures
around the world by mainstream America, Goffman sees that new
communications technology is leading to the development of global
connections among todayës countercultures, as evidenced in the
worldwide protests surrounding the WTO.
In a city like
Asheville, possessing more than the usual percentage of countercultural
devotees, this is an especially fun and revealing book to read. Such
rebellions are as human as the opposable thumb, and as ancient ÇƒÓ and
much to the frustration of authority figures everywhere, arenët going
to go away.
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