Modernism in Literature What is it? When and why did it happen?

Modernism in Literature
What is it?
When and why did it happen?
Don’t confuse the Modernist movement with
the standard dictionary definition of modern:
Of or relating to present times (adj.)
Synonyms: present day, current, contemporary
The Modern Age
1915 -1946
The devastation of WWI brought about an
end to the sense of optimism that had
characterized the years immediately
preceding the war. Many people were left
with a feeling of uncertainty, disjointedness ,
and disillusionment. No longer trusting the
values of the world, people sought to find
new ideas that were more applicable to 20th
century life.
Modernists sought to capture the essence of
modern life.
Why did Modernism Happen?
In the aftermath of WWI, people were faced
with :
 Disillusion
 Dehumanization
 Survivor guilt and
 Mechanized Death
Questions of the Modern Era
 What
is human nature?
 What do I know?
 Is it possible to know anything for sure?
 Is it just our perception or point of view
that dictates reality?

Example of Schrodinger’s cat: both alive
and dead at the same time
 What
is truth?
The Expatriates
 The
postwar disenchantment led a
number of American writers to become
expatriates, or exiles. They were
nicknamed “The Lost Generation.”
 F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway,
Sherwood Anderson, Ezra Pound and T.S.
Eliot were all members of this group.
What are the characteristics of
Modernism?
 Marked
by a strong and intentional
break with tradition.
 This break includes a strong reaction
against established religious, political,
and social views.
 A belief that reality is created in the
act of perceiving it; there is no such
thing as absolute truth.
 Life is unordered
Common Themes of
Modernism
 Alienation,
loss and despair
 Reality vs. perception (point of view)
 Championship of the individual and
celebration of inner strength.
 Concerned with the sub-conscious mind
as well as the conscious mind
 Strong and intentional break with tradition
Techniques in Modernism
 Writers
and poets spurred common
conventions of writing: they might omit
punctuation, or create a new form
 Writing took on an experimental nature
 Influenced by developments in modern
psychology, writers began using the
stream-of-consciousness technique,
attempting to re-create the natural flow
of a character’s thoughts.
Techniques in Modernism
 Lack
of traditional chronological narrative
(discontinuous narrative)
 Break of narrative frames
 fragmentation = disjointed and nonlinear
narratives. Modernist literature embraces
fragmentation as a literary form, since it
reinforces the fragmentation of reality
Techniques used in Modernism


flashback – presents an event from an earlier
time, it interrupts the chronological
presentation of events.
Interior monologue technique – a kind of
stream of consciousness writing- presents
character’s thoughts in the form of silent inner
speech. Interior Monologue = a character
talking/thinking, using words specific to that
character, making assumptions, mistaken
judgments, conclusions RIGHT FOR THAT
CHARACTER.
Techniques used in Modernism

Stream of Consciousness - a narrative
technique that presents thoughts as if they
were coming directly from a character’s
mind. Instead of being arranged in
chronological order, the events are presented
from the character’s point of view. Events are
presented as the character thinks of them,
not in chronological order. Stream of
consciousness tends to be less ordered than
interior monologue. Consciousness has no
beginning and no end – thoughts flit quite
randomly from one thing to another.
Examples of Modern Literature
 James
Joyce – His experimental work, Ulysses,
completely abandons generally accepted notions of
plot, setting, and characters
 Virginia Woolf’s – To the Lighthouse, strays from
conventional forms, focusing on Stream of
Consciousness
 Stevie Smith’s – Novel on Yellow Paper parodies
conventionality
 Aldous Huxley’s – Brave New World protests against
the dangers and nature of modern society
 D. H. Lawrence’s works reflect on the dehumanizing
effect of modern society.
 T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland emphasizes the emptiness of
Industrialism.
American Modernism
 Ernest
Hemingway chronicles the
meaningless lives of the Lost Generation
 F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby
shows the corruption of the American
Dream
What is Postmodernism?




Postmodernism is a term that encompasses a
wide-range of developments in philosophy,
film, architecture, art, literature, and culture.
Originally a reaction to modernism, referring
to the lack of artistic, intellectual, or cultural
thought or organized principle.
Started around 1940s, exact date is unknown.
Peaked around the 1960s and 1970s with the
release of Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five