The American Beats And The Canadian West Coast Culture Wars

It did not take long for the Black Mountain and Beat traditions to move up the West Coast and into Canada. In fact, the Canadian West Coast in the 1960s-1970s became a veritable literary battlefield waged between Canadian nationalists and Canadian literary types who were keen on bending the knee to the American Beat and Black Mountain traditions. The battles were fought on the streets, in universities and in small publications. There was no truce then, and there is not now. The tale of those who took the American side and who convinced many Canadians to write like the Black Mountain and Beat traditions is graphically told by Warren Tallman in his well-crafted book, In The Midst (1992). All the saints of the American and Canadian Beat and Black Mountain traditions are hung poster high for the curious and devoted to see. This was the age of Tish, the founding of Woodcock’s Canadian Literature and The Georgia Straight. This was an era when many Canadians bowed low to American models of literary life and anarchist politics. The star spangled beaver was very much in our midst in those heated days. But, as ever, the Canadian nationalists would not be silent or still. The beaver did bite back, and bit sharply. There were good Canadian poets who would not be colonized, and they did not want to be part of a sophisticated comprador class. The culture wars were the most intense. Those who stood for a more indigenous and nationalist way could not be silenced. Milton Acorn resigned from The Georgia Straight after the first edition. He saw the American anarchist writing on the wall. Marya Fiamengo (who taught in the English department at UBC) spoke out loud and clear about the American Trojan Horse in the midst. Robin Mathews, with surgical precision, cut to the quick. Warren Tallman called him "my enemy," and did whatever he could to undermine and subvert the nationalism of Mathews. Pat Lane and Gwendolyn MacEwan entered the ring, also. It is 50 years this autumn since the Beats met in San Francisco. The combination of the Beats and the Black Mountain traditions did much to reshape and redefine West Coast literary culture. But the beaver did bite back, and we, as Canadians, need to hear how so. The tale is yet to be fully told of how the West Coast Canadian nationalists stood up against the colonials and compradors and held their ground. May such a good story be told well and soon. Ron Dart [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on June 20, 2005]