Bob Kaufman, traitor.

Abstract

Using Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's notion of a minor literature and their rather specific definition of a traitor this thesis examines the life and work of Bob Kaufman. Bob Kaufman was one of the original Beats, he was black, and he is practically unknown. This thesis examines how Kaufman uses his complex racial background with his poetry to push language to it extremes and in doing so trouble the structures which language presupposes. Through jazz and silence Kaufman causes traditional notions of language, poetry, and life to take flight and become something new, something which attempts to overcome the ills found in society. This thesis is an attempt to examine Kaufman as an example of rebellion not to be emulated but as a precursor of future rebellions.