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Jack Kerouac, the novelist who revolutionised the form of American fiction and journalism, was born to a family of French-Canadians in exile and did not begin to understand English until he was six. Alienation, a quest for transcendence and the need to discover a new language would ultimately define his art. Through dramatised excerpts, period footage and candid interviews, this film shows how Kerouac’s restless seeking as a literary bohemian embodied a larger Franco-American pattern of emigration and displacement.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
304493
Language
English
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Beat generation
Documentary → Documentary films - Canada
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Beat generation
Literature → American literature
Literature → Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969
Music & Performing Arts → Beat generation
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)