Anti-Humanism in the Counterculture

This book explores an unexpected conservatism at the heart of experimental American literature between 1945 and 1970. Through case studies of Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Norman Mailer, Marshall McLuhan – among others – it questions the apparent political progressivism of a literary period that was in fact deeply rooted in earlier, reactionary ideas. By reassessing the counterculture of the 1950s and 60s, it argues, we can reach a better understanding of our moral and cultural certitudes today.