Poetry Across the Atlantic: Beat Aesthetics and Political Dissent in Allen Ginsberg and Küçük İskender

Abstract

This article examines the transatlantic circulation of Beat poetics through a comparative reading of Allen Ginsberg’s “America” and Küçük İskender’s “Türkiye.” Although separated by geography, language, and historical context, both poems articulate a similar mode of poetic dissent that challenges dominant national narratives, moral norms, and political authority. Situating Ginsberg’s poem within the cultural and ideological tensions of Cold War America, the study argues that “America” exemplifies the Beat generation’s rebellious aesthetics through its confessional tone, anti-capitalist rhetoric, and radical critique of American society. The article then turns to Küçük İskender’s “Türkiye,” suggesting that his poetry adapts and localizes Beat poetics within the socio-political conditions of post-1980 Turkey. Drawing on theories of intertextuality and transnational literary circulation, the paper demonstrates how Beat aesthetics travel across cultures and are reconfigured within new political contexts. Ultimately, the comparison reveals how poetic anger, sexual identity, and countercultural resistance function as shared elements of dissent in both poets’ works.