Shamanistic Elements in beat poetry: An Abstract
I
Many Beat poets were directly influenced by
Shaman writers. For example Anne Waldman was
influenced by shamaness Maria Sabina and Mircea
Eliade (Reisman, 2012). In addition, there has
been a wealth of research written on shamanism
and famous poets. “Kerouac in Ecstasy- Shamanic
expression in his writings” by Bierowski, 1995 is a
critical text which explores ecstatic language and
portrays Kerouac as a significant shamanic figure
in modern America. In addition "Walt Whitman:
Shamanism, Spiritual Democracy, and the World-
soul" 2010, by Steven B.Herrman displays how
Whitman celebrated the self and had the whole
world singing to his "body electric". Herrman
makes clear the phenomenon of Whitman as
shaman of the 19 th century. Furthermore books
have been written about artists such as Kandinsky
and compared him to a shaman (e.g. Kandinsky
and old Russia: The Artist as Ethnographer and
shaman”, 1995, by Peg Weiss. Other books have
been written which look directly at shamanic
elements such as "Shamanic elements in the
2