The Invisible Generation
WILLIAM S, BURROUGHS
Viliam S, Burroughs (1914-1997) was the greatest American Ierary
‘xperimentait of fhe late 20" century. He was he fothe fortune generated
by his grandfather, ventor of te adding rachine, pracursr to the som
‘hnputes. Yet daspite hs prvleged upbringing, Durroughs was a sel
Sesoribed "june" and "queer (o che the tiles of his st two books) whose
‘earger was spant h solimposed axie from mainstream American society
‘nd cultura. Ater graduating from Harvard in 1895, ho landed in Now York,
‘nbere he betransed Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouar and bocame assoc
ated with the "Beat Genoratin.” Following the publication of his most
famous novel, Natad {unch (1959), Burrughs wreta a tlagy cf nevale
ing “the cutup method" Emulating the techricues of collage in panting
{and montage Fm, Buroughs tooc a scissors olf and new partons of
his wing, and then spliced togather the pisces et random to generate new
ideas and comectons. Tne tecrnique was not ony a tool of terary ven
ton; as also a response to Buroughs’ view that language s @1 arony-
‘mous feroe of sexial cortol, a mind- ane action-centoling virus spread
through everyday speach and wring, and most glaringly manifested nthe
‘ass mocia. The cutup method, hen, was a mears of subvering, 9 at
least resisting, language's normalizing power.
Throughout hs later We, Buroughs was a cut Rgure wih a perctarly
‘rong standing anong musicare. Tho bands Sicely Dan and Soft Machine
took their names tom Burroughs’ novels. Burrosghs himself collaborated
‘wn nan Jones (cline Hoang stones), Unete Coteman, Laurie Anaerson,
Feychie TV, the Disposable Herees of Hishoprisy, arog other. The flow
ing tex (the epilogue fo his cutup novel The Tckat hat Exploded (1962),
reveals Buroughs as both a founder of "sound post” and a presu'sr 10
1 Cuture, Incutup form, t describes Burroughs eLt-up expermants with
tape recorders ad eflacts upor the profound ofects of sound and record-
284 + muco cuture
iat we see is determined to a large extentby what we heat you can very
this pecpostion by asimple expenmert tun off iy sour tach your BIoKSIOn
sel and substitute an arbitrary sound teck prerecoraac on yout lape recorlor
‘te0t sounds music conorsation recorangs of alher television programs "you
wil fin that te arirary soundtrack sees tobe appropvateandis i fact deter-
mining your iterpetaten of th fm rack on sereen geape running fora bus in
Piccadly with @ soune tack of machine-gun fire loks like 1817 petrogad you
{an extend the experiment by using resordod material nove or less appraprce to
the fir tack or example take a pole speach on television shut of sound rack
and substitute another speech you have prerecstded hardly tel the ciferance
isnt mach record soundtrack of one danger man trom uncle py program