The last century, with its writers, poets, critics, and philosophers, was preoccupied with an existential state called the “lost generation.” Under this title, first-class film and theater directors became famous, and cafe discussions took place around it after World War II.
The phenomenon of the “lost generation” began in Paris, where the city was famous for launching “intellectual waves” and expressing the loss that affected all countries. Everyone who wanted fame in America’s literary councils joined and searched for it under this umbrella, and the umbrella began to expand until it included all aspects of youth life. From this generation, the “hippie” movement, “Beatles” songs, and “rock and roll” tunes will emerge. Some sociologists also refer to the “student revolution” in 1968, which ignited Paris and burned a large number of groups in America, which in turn is said to have led to changing the features of political life throughout the world.
With time, people forgot who launched that slogan or that name, and it no longer mattered in any case. It has become an agreed-upon saying, like a morning or evening greeting, or like talking about socialism, the left, and the right. A phrase or expression that has entered the dictionary and has become a familiar part of it. It is not necessary to explain and explain it and the location of its use whenever necessary.
But who is that genius who launched a phrase that occupied the world? Some said he was the American novelist Ernest Hemingway. Others said it was the British philosopher Bertrand Russell. Another group said it was the founder of the existentialist movement, Jean-Paul Sartre. The story is far from all of these. Hemingway narrates in his famous book: “Paris is a Traveling Festival” that he once went to visit the American writer Gertrude Stein, and found her angry and sending expressions of complaint. When he asked her why, she told him that her old Ford car had broken down, so she took it to the neighborhood mechanic to have it repaired. It seems that the man entrusted his young assistant with the task, but this failed time after time. When Mrs. Stein went to check on the matter with him, he said to her with a sigh: “What do you want?” “It is the generation of this time, the lost generation.”
Hemingway, one of the most famous writers at the time, transformed the complaint of a garage owner into the most important description of the post-war generation. He always regretted that neither he nor Stein was the author of the immortal logo.
