The Imagist Movement

Ben Johnson and Zach Tom English 11 Honors Mr. Slater 2, May 2014 The Imagist movement and the American Dream Mass culture, consumerism, and the dream of wealth define the American culture at the turn of the 17th century. The American dream of upward mobility was becoming the common dream as people strived to obtain the next and newest fad of the time. Contrary to this paradigm shift, the imagists focused on breaking the mold of the mass culture that was devouring the country. The imagist era, lasting from 1912-1917, broke away from the previously undisputed style of writing and arts. The participants of the imagist movement had an American dream of straying away from the mass culture and accepted style to live a life that expressed their individuality. Contrary to the imagist movement, Americans of the early 1900s focused on improving their lives through new technology and innovations. This advanced machinery included cars and radios, which made The United States more mobile and far more connected as a whole; a theory called consumerism. Since everyone in America craved for possession of new technology, businesses had a broad spectrum of customers for their goods. This also made for a nation of conformity; people were striving to be normal, and normality was the image of being like everybody else. The average American values did not comply with what the Imagist movement sought after. Imagists wanted to break away from society and create a new vision of life, which is displayed throughout the writing and art of the era. The imagist era stressed new ideas and anti-conformity through the writing of the period. The authors of the time believed that poetry can be made purer by concentration on a precise and clear image. Instead of exp...

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...t the American dream would be for their own lives. The imagist movement stressed the importance of being an individual and living in a personally gratifying way. The leaders of the movement like, e.e.cummings. T.S. Eliot, and Ezra pound lived and wrote in a way that was different from other Americans of the time. They were able to live minimally and search for individual identity. Along with the literature that shaped the movement, new art like cubism defined the era. Pablo Picasso created master pieces with this style and showed that a new perspective can result in amazing success. Ultimately the Imagist era will be remembered for their extensive attempts to break the traditional mold. By doing so, the movement serves as an example for future generations that anti-conformity can reveal personal identity and happiness, while it may not be the popular action to take.