The Role of Psychedelics in Kesey's Life
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Date
2020
Authors
Kordahl, Rose
Heinonen, Jake
Kabasenche, Elyria
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Students in Dr. Stephen Rust’s course “Researching Oregon Writers” examined a digitized mini-archive of materials prepared during the Covid-19 crisis by the Knight Library Special Collections with the goal of better understanding how archival materials can shape and reshape our thinking about an author’s life and literary works. Items include personal correspondence between Ken Kesey and friend Ken Babbs composed while Kesey was writing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962), correspondence between Ursula K. Le Guin and literary agent Virginia Kidd while Le Guin was writing The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), and manuscript pages from each novel. Their posters will blend of select images from the digital mini-archive to and written elements of humanities research posters along with virtual audio presentations. We hope these poster presentations will inspire viewers to appreciate the value of archives for preserving literary and cultural history and open new perspectives into Le Guin and Kesey’s life and work. Xitali Torres, Carmen Reddick Bayley Burke, and Micah Woods are interested in how Kesey’s correspondence with Babbs can shed light on the development of particular characters in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Kesey’s relationship with the 1960s counterculture. Rose Kordahal, Elyria Kabasenche, and Jake Heinonen are researching Kesey’s correspondence and journal entries before and after the publication of Cuckoo’s Nest to explore his authorial intentions regarding the civil rights of patients in mental hospitals. Ethan Scott, Zoey Cantor, and Garret Simmer how Kesey’s personal view on conformity and freedom inform how those themes develop in his work and are particularly interested in archival materials that might shed light on his use of laughter as a metaphor for rebellion against social norms. Zoey Whittington, Jacob Smith, and Donovan Muniz hope to learn more about the impact of 1960s Sexual Revolution on Le Guin’s writing and her development of a genderless society in The Left Hand of Darkness. Lyla Balthazaar, Max Braker, and Eleanor Davis are studying Le Guin’s business correspondence with her agent Virginia Kidd to examine how they sought to position her work in the science fiction marketplace. Elliot Terner, Audra McNamee, and David Cynkin are curious to examine Le Guin’s writings about science and philosophy as well as her engagement with literary scholarship to consider how her personal beliefs and interests shaped the direction of her creative writing.
Description
Project files are comprised of 1 page pdf and presentation recording in mp4 format.
Keywords
Psychadelics, Conformity, Counter-Culture, Ken Kesey, Literature