The Consul and the Beatnik:  The Establishment, Youth Culture and the Beginnings of the Hippy Trail (1966—68)

Brian Ireland; Sharif Gemie

doi:10.1093/tcbh/hwx004

The Consul and the Beatnik: The Establishment, Youth Culture and the Beginnings of the Hippy Trail (1966—68)

Brian Ireland, Sharif Gemie

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

This paper analyses the attitudes expressed by consular and embassy officials to a new type of traveller they encountered in the mid-1960s. Their observations are contextualised within wider debates concerning ‘youth’ in the late 1950s and 1960s. Officials distinguished sharply between ‘overlanders’ (who could be tolerated or accommodated) and ‘beatniks’ whose behaviour was characterized as illegal and/or unacceptable. Smoking cannabis was identified as a key marker of beatnik behaviour. Officials' observations are contrasted with four accounts by new travellers from the period. The paper concludes with a proposal for an ‘anti-nominian’ approach to the study of youth cultures: researchers should be more sensitive to the constructed nature of the labels used to identify the various strands of youth identity.

Original language	English
Article number	3052190
Pages (from-to)	440-464
Number of pages	25
Journal	Twentieth Century British History
Volume	3
Issue number	1
Early online date	23 Feb 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/tcbh/hwx004
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2017

Keywords

Beatnik
Youth Culture
hippie
counterculture of the 1960s
Kathmandu
Goa
hippy trail
young people
Consular officials

Access to Document

10.1093/tcbh/hwx004Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Consul and BeatnikAccepted author manuscript, 137 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

1 Book
1 Chapter
1 Article

The Hippie Trail: A History
Gemie, S. & Ireland, B., 10 Nov 2017, Manchester University Press. 264 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies in Historical Context
Ireland, B., 30 Nov 2017, Critical Insights: Lord of the Flies. United States: Salem Press, (Critical Insights series).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
The Hippy Trail
Ireland, B. & Gemie, S., 2015, The Sixties: A worldwide happening.
Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

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The Consul and the Beatnik: The Establishment, Youth Culture and the Beginnings of the Hippy Trail (1966—68)

Abstract

Keywords

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Research output

The Hippie Trail: A History

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies in Historical Context

The Hippy Trail

Cite this