Beat Generation writer Joyce Johnson speaks on Jack Kerouac

Joyce Johnson wants everyone to get to know a different side of Jack Kerouac.

Johnson, a Beat Generation novelist, biographer and journalist, is one of only two scholars who have extensively researched Kerouac’s French-Canadian background — distinguishing him from his role as a strictly American author.

And Johnson will welcome the UNC community into this discussion with her seminar, “Jack Kerouac: Beyond Beat” today.

Johnson has published books in both fiction and nonfiction. Her most recent book, “The Voice Is All: The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac,” will serve as the basis of her discussion in the seminar.

The biography describes Kerouac’s French-Canadian background and its influence on his writing. It also discusses how Kerouac’s history as a bilingual author who grew up struggling to learn English can be seen in his writing.

Johnson, who once dated Kerouac, combined her firsthand experiences with extensive research on his background for material for her lecture.

“People like to think of him as this all-American writer,” she said.

“But I have been really interested in exploring this half-French side of him, and also the effect that that had on his writing because in all his works, he was always translating from French in his head.”

UNC French professor and director of graduate studies Hassan Melehy organized the event and invited Johnson to speak on campus. Melehy shares Johnson’s interest in Kerouac’s Franco-American background.

Both Johnson and Melehy were invited to speak together about Kerouac and his bilingualism at the Center for Translation Studies at Barnard College in 2013 and afterwards, Melehy decided to bring the talk to UNC as well.

Melehy said the topic of Kerouac’s French-Canadian background has not been extensively studied until now, but that Johnson’s extensive knowledge on the subject makes her a valuable lecturer for students to hear.

“It’s interesting for me because (Johnson’s) biography is really the first one to really assess the importance of his background in any detail at all,” Melehy said.

“And for me as a scholar, it’s a huge part of his work that virtually no one has addressed. I’d go to say that you don’t understand Kerouac unless you understand his French-Canadian background, and Johnson’s biography addresses the same thing.”

Much of Johnson’s understanding of Kerouac came from knowing him, as well as studying his less popular works.

“His bilingualism wasn’t something (Kerouac) really talked about publicly, but he really felt very French-Canadian, and in one of his diaries he talks frequently about feeling like a half-American,” she said.

Johnson will also discuss her book “Minor Characters” Thursday, which looks back to 1957 and 1958 when Kerouac rose to fame from his publication of “On the Road.” The book won a National Book Critics Circle Award in 1993 and discusses women associated with the Beat Generation.

Freshman Allison Black , an anthropology major who has read many works by Kerouac, said she’s excited to hear this new discussion of an American author from an anthropological perspective.

“I’m very interested in the Beat movement,” Black said.

“Because history remembers the movement as very American, yet the authors themselves focused on themes that rejected societal norms and they didn’t identify with the American culture at all. I look forward to listening to Johnson speak and hopefully address that with Jack Kerouac.”

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