Author(s)

Liu Jingxuan ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411100, China

Corresponding Author

Liu Jingxuan

ABSTRACT

In 1972, the audacious Beat poet Allen Ginsberg received the Dharma name "Lion of Dharma," publicly affirming his long-standing engagement with Buddhism[1]. His study of Buddhist teachings and meditative practices inspired him to re-describe his earlier poetics as an experimental extension of perception and an exploration of consciousness and reality. This paper examines how, in his seminal work Howl[2], Ginsberg creatively reinterpreted Buddhist concepts and meditative disciplines to advance his project of poetic experimentation through Eastern spirituality. Rather than mere inaccuracies, these reinterpretations are analyzed as deliberate and productive forms of creative misreading that enabled his distinctive mode of self-expression and facilitated his emergence as a countercultural icon who helped popularize Buddhist thought in America. Ultimately, this study argues that Ginsberg's poetic practice functioned as a vehicle for countercultural production, illustrating how spiritual resources can be adapted to challenge prevailing social norms and reshape cultural landscapes. Through a sociological lens, the article highlights the role of creative adaptation in cross-cultural exchange and the construction of public identity.

KEYWORDS

Howl, Allen Ginsberg, Buddhism, Creative Misreading, Sociology of Literature

CITE THIS PAPER

Liu Jingxuan, Creative Misreading and Countercultural Production: The Sociological Function of Buddhism in Allen Ginsberg's Howl. Journal of Sociology and Ethnology (2026) Vol. 8: 1-6. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/jsoce.2026.080101.

REFERENCES

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[2] Ginsberg, A. (1956). Howl and Other Poems[M]. San Francisco: City Lights Books.
[3] Schumacher, M. (1992). Dharma Lion: A Critical Biography of Allen Ginsberg[M]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
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[10] Chen, Y. (1999). Comparative Poetics[M]. Beijing: Beijing University Press.
[11] Bloom, H. (1973). The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry[M]. New York: Oxford University Press.
[12] Zhang, Q. (2005). Creative misreading and the anxiety of influence[J]. Foreign Literature Review, (3), 45-52.
[13] Genette, G. (1997). Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation[M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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