Modernism, according to Christ Baldick, The Concise Oxford Definition of Literary Terms is “a general term applied retrospectively to the wide range of experimental and avant-garde trends in the literature (and other arts) of the early 20th century”
Modernism, according to Christ Baldick, The Concise Oxford Definition of Literary Terms is “a general term applied retrospectively to the wide range of experimental and avant-garde trends in the literature (and other arts) of the early 20th century”
“…a movement which began … in the closing years of the 19th century and which … had a wide influence internationally during much of the 20th century. [It] reveals a breaking away from established rules, traditions and conventions, fresh ways of looking at man’s position and function in the universe and many…experiments in form and style. It is particularly concerned with language and how to use it … and with writing itself.”
“…a movement which began … in the closing years of the 19th century and which … had a wide influence internationally during much of the 20th century. [It] reveals a breaking away from established rules, traditions and conventions, fresh ways of looking at man’s position and function in the universe and many…experiments in form and style. It is particularly concerned with language and how to use it … and with writing itself.”
“…the term ‘Modernism’ is not a precise label but instead a way of referring to the efforts of many individuals across the arts who tried to move away from established modes [realistic] of representation”
“…the term ‘Modernism’ is not a precise label but instead a way of referring to the efforts of many individuals across the arts who tried to move away from established modes [realistic] of representation”
During 19th Century, the Enlightenment notion of the world as a machine—something whose parts could be named and seen to function—came back into favor.
During 19th Century, the Enlightenment notion of the world as a machine—something whose parts could be named and seen to function—came back into favor.
Positivism—the 19th Century belief that everything, including human nature, could be explained and understood through science.
Modernism rejects this idea.
industrialization and mechanization
industrialization and mechanization
rapid technological advances
What important changes happened?
WW I was the first “total war” in which modern weapons spared no one, including civilians.
WW I was the first “total war” in which modern weapons spared no one, including civilians.
The casualties suffered by the participants in WorldWar I dwarfed those of previous wars: some 8,500,000 soldiers died as a result of wounds and/or disease.
War was increasingly mechanized from 1914 and produced casualties even when nothing important was happening.
It has been estimated that the number of civilian deaths attributable to the war was higher than the military casualties, or around 13,000,000. These civilian deaths were largely caused by starvation, exposure, disease, military encounters, and massacres.
It has been estimated that the number of civilian deaths attributable to the war was higher than the military casualties, or around 13,000,000. These civilian deaths were largely caused by starvation, exposure, disease, military encounters, and massacres.
The enormity of the war had undermined humankind's faith in Western society and culture.
Postwar modernist literature reflected a sense of disillusionment and fragmentation.
Marx’s new explanations of history—dialectical materialism which sees historical progress as the political struggle between two classes resulting in a new socioeconomic order
Marx’s new explanations of history—dialectical materialism which sees historical progress as the political struggle between two classes resulting in a new socioeconomic order
Darwin’s new view of humanity as ascended from apes rather than descended from God— shifts humanity’s conception of its place in the world
Darwin’s new view of humanity as ascended from apes rather than descended from God— shifts humanity’s conception of its place in the world
Swiss linguist who argues that language is relative, that words have no direct relationship to the concepts or objects they signify
Swiss linguist who argues that language is relative, that words have no direct relationship to the concepts or objects they signify
Theory of relativity abandoned the concepts of absolute motion and the absolute difference of space and time.
Theory of relativity abandoned the concepts of absolute motion and the absolute difference of space and time.
Theories became interpreted in popular culture that we cannot know anything for sure; all knowledge is relative.
Einstein: his philosophies of relativity challenge previous scientific notions of stable time and space
Nietzsche: when he said “God is Dead” and argued for the power of the human will, he shifted cultural ideologies about religion and philosophy
Nietzsche: when he said “God is Dead” and argued for the power of the human will, he shifted cultural ideologies about religion and philosophy
Stressed subconscious motives and instinctual drives.
Stressed subconscious motives and instinctual drives.
After Freud, impossible to ignore psychological undercurrents of human behaviors.
Writers deal with subconscious motivations.
Employ stream of consciousness technique similar to Freud’s therapeutic tactic of free association.
The Golden Bough
From Ritual to Romance
Theosophy
Golden Dawn
Refused direct representation of reality.
Refused direct representation of reality.
Favor of expressing an inner vision, emotion, or spiritual reality.
The Scream by Edvard Munch evokes a whole realm of spiritual agony.
Aim to bring a fuller awareness of human experience—both conscious and unconscious states.
Aim to bring a fuller awareness of human experience—both conscious and unconscious states.
