%0 Journal Article
%T Charisma and Counterculture: Allen Ginsberg as a Prophet for a New Generation
%A Yaakov Ariel
%J Religions
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/rel4010051
%X The cultural role of Allen Ginsberg does not fit a typical Weberian model of charisma. The avant-garde poet was an outstanding personality and possessed an unusual ability to affect people. He played a vital role in expanding the boundaries of personal freedom in America of the 1950s¨C1990s, blazing new paths for spiritual, communal and artistic expression. Serving as a father figure for the counterculture¡ªa symbol of an alternative set of cultural norms, lifestyles and literary forms¡ªGinsberg was a charismatic counter-leader, with no clearly defined followers or movement. As a leader in a more liberated era, he offered energy, ideas, inspiration, and color, but no structure or authority. Instead he was a prophet of freedom, calling on people to express themselves openly, to expand and experiment. This role demanded charisma but of a different kind¡ªone that was more spiritual and less organizational or hierarchical. This article follows Gary Dickson¡¯s essay ¡°Charisma, Medieval and Modern,¡± in offering a suggestive analysis of and supplement to Weber¡¯s understanding of charisma. The article grapples with the concept of charisma in relation to a generation that resented rigid structures and authorities.
%K Allen Ginsberg
%K Naomi Ginsberg
%K Jack Kerouac
%K Peter Orlovsky
%K Beat Generation
%K counterculture
%K Jewish
%K Howl
%K Kaddish
%K Buddhism
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/4/1/51