Presenter(s): Lida Ford
Faculty Mentor(s): Judith Raiskin
Poster 102
Session: Social Sciences & Humanities
“Corybantic Lycanthropy” is an unpublished poem by Allen Ginsberg, found during my research in the Stanford Univerisity Archives in Ginsberg’s private journals. When examining the work, I wanted to understand the significance of the poem not only based on its literary merits but to explore what insights could be gained about Ginsberg’s early life through its analysis. The poem was written in 1944, Ginsberg’s early college years, during the early beginning formation of the Beat Generation. When read in light of Ginsberg’s other journal entries, as well as in through a psychoanalytical lens “Corybantic Lycanthropy”’s significance becomes clear. The poem is a representation of Ginsberg’s own struggles with his sexuality during this time, and the many symbols found in the poem represent his own process in understanding and accepting his homosexuality before he was out. This provides a rare scholarly opportunity, to view Ginsberg’s work before he was widely out as homosexual, and discover the very early years of a poet for which sexuality and homosexuality would become a significant defining point of his career. As a whole, “Corybantic Lycanthropy” gives us unique insight into a vital chapter in Ginsberg’s life, which has not been previously academically explored.