"Gen Xers" and "Boomers"

Content

1. Introduction

2. Plot of the book Generation X

3. Definition of the “Generation X”

4. Definition of the “Baby Boomer” generation

5. Popular conceptions of the relationship between “Boomers” and “Gen Xers”

6. Representation of the relationship between “Boomers” and “Gen Xers” in Generation X

7. Conclusion

1. Introduction

Every individual has a conception of his relationship to his parents. Correspondingly, most societies have an understanding of the different generations that live within them, and of the relationship that exists between these generations.

In the early 1990s however, the character of the generation born during the 60s and 70s, thus mostly being in their twenties, “[remained], to many, an enigma” (Holtz, 1). There seemed to be no way of identifying them as a group, no obvious ideas, political interests or music they shared. (George, 24-26 and Holtz, 3)

This explains, to some extend, the name and the success of Douglas Coupland’s book Generation X; a book that was dubbed “most shoplifted book in America” (Rogers, 1). The publishers sensed that there might be a common interest in an identification of the young generation; consequently, the cover text of the original edition read: “Finally [my emphasis] … a frighteningly hilarious, voraciously readable salute to [this generation] – a camera shy, suspiciously hushed generation known vaguely up to now [my emphasis] as twentysomething.”^[1]

The media happily accepted this input and put their focus on the characteristics they thought to be fabulously pointed out in the book; for example the contempt towards the older generation. This escalated and soon developed into sort of a small inter-generational war in magazines, books, newspapers and movies (Porsche, 10-11).

Is this what Coupland tried to achieve? Was it his intention to create new front lines? The main question is how is the “Boomer” – “Gen Xer” relationship displayed in Generation X ? In this paper, an attempt will be made to point out the popular conception of this relationship in the 90s, and to find out how it is actually represented in this book.

2. Plot of the book Generation X

The main protagonist Andrew Palmer (“Andy”) and his two friends Claire Baxter and Dagmar Bellinghausen (“Dag”) live in the desert in Palm Springs, California. The novel is set in an undefined present. All three are in their twenties and work in low-paying jobs that do not require much responsibility or interest. The reader is told in three stories how each of them ended up in Palm Springs. Andy left Portland, Oregon, where he grew up, in search for “less past” (Coupland, 66) after returning from a trip to Japan. Dag was dissatisfied with his yuppie career in Toronto, so he quit his job after having offended his boss and moved into the desert. Claire met Andy when she participated in a family trip to Palm Springs; he advised her to quit her job in Los Angeles and move to Palm Springs, which she did shortly after, she as well was annoyed and depressed from pursuing her career.

The life of these three characters is described, their routines, and in particular their policy of storytelling: they tell each other stories, either real or fictional; they do not criticize or interrupt each other. The book ends with the three characters planning to open a hotel in San Felipe, Mexico, and Andy’s trip there.

3. Definition of the “Generation X”

The term “generation X” is a very ambivalent and elusive one. It is not possible to derive its meaning from the way it was first or originally used: it was used in the 1950s and 60s to describe the then young generation and there was a punk band called “Generation X” in the 70s. Coupland himself found the term in a sociological book by Paul Fussel, Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, published in 1984. Here, it was used to describe people that do not fit into other groups; Fussel used the term bohemians (Porsche, 5).

Coupland brings the term to a new level. As it is the title of the novel, we can assume that the three main characters represent the essence of generation X for Coupland. The term is used only twice in the book itself, here Andy reflects on the looks his Japanese co-workers are giving him when their boss invites him for drinks:

I felt I was being excommunicated from the shin jin rui – that’s what the Japanese newspapers call people like those kids in their twenties in the office – new human beings. [...] We have the same group here and it’s just as large, but it doesn’t have a name – an X generation – purposefully hiding itself. (Coupland, 63)

Thus it can be seen that the X in generation X stands for the lack of a name, the lack of an adjective that describes this group, and moreover an absence of even the wish to be noticed. It can also be concluded that for Coupland, “Gen Xers” are people that are in their twenties in the early 90s (when the book was written, so they were born in the 60s or 70s). By looking at the three main characters in the book we can identify further characteristics: a frustration with - and consequently a withdrawal from - society, the quest for “a space untouched by its seemingly degraded influence” (Annesley, 118), the absence of interest in fulfilling careers or a higher standard of living (Moore, 253-71), “boomer envy” (Coupland, 26) – an envy of all the benefits the baby boomer generation has or had, and also a rootlessness, a moving from place to place (Lainsbury, 229-40). Coupland divides his generation X into several subgroups throughout the book, for example “Yuppie Wannabes” (Coupland, 104), people trying to attain a yuppie life-style, or “Black Holes” (Coupland, 155), who own almost exclusively black clothes; the existence of subgroups in turn lets us assume that there must be a main group, again represented by Andy, Dag and Claire.

When Coupland’s book was published in 1991, it received a lot of media interest and started a discussion on the identity of the generation described.

The story [...] skyrockets from obscurity to international renown [...] [it] convinces the world that those growing up in the shadow of the baby boom actually exist as a generation. (Rogers, 1-2)

In this debate, several aspects were added to describe the generation X; and sometimes these aspects were not central to Coupland’s book. Thus, the term generation X detached from the definition that Coupland must originally have intended. It developed into a term that describes, or focuses in its description, on lots of aspects that were not associated with generation X before, for example Martine Delvaux’s “Whatever Philosophy” (Delvaux, 171-86): not to care, and to have “whatever” as a final answer to any question clearly is not a significant or even notable characteristic of either Andy, Dag or Claire. Also, the definition is changing as Gen Xers get older. The book When Generations Collide associates the following characteristics with generation X:

For years now, Xers have been able to say “Show me the money” and mean it in the business world, ticking off remarkable accomplishments as managers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. […] Generation Xers are an extremely resourceful and independent generation who count on their peers and themselves to get things done […]. (Lancaster, 24)

This is a long way from Coupland’s career-avoiding, responsibility-hating “twentysomethings” (Porsche, 11) that work in low-paying jobs.

Thus, the definition of Gen Xers that Coupland implied in his book has to be differentiated from the popular understanding of the term.

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^[1] See Douglas Coupland, Generation X. Tales for an Accelerated Culture. New York: St. Martin’s, 1991.