Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Good effects war had on literature
Critical analysis on modernism
The influence of modernism in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Good effects war had on literature
Around 1906, modernist writing was used, but did not yet have a name. James Joyce was the first person to write in a modernist way. It was not until later that the name modernism was established. It was mainly involved with language and how it is used. Modernism is known as a result of the struggle families went through during a certain period of time. Many other authors use modernism in a similar way. To fully understand modernist poetry, a definition and a break down is needed.
Modernism is better known as a reflection of historical events. During the time period of 1890-1910, many issues came about in society. Over these twenty years, Americans had massive amounts of change. For example, World War I was beginning and the Industrial Revolution was escalating. It was also the period when cars appeared and there were also massive cultural shifts. For example, John Steinbeck writes about Americans fleeing to California in search of jobs in the novel The Grapes of Wrath.
Under a combination of historical pressure such as these, writers came to respect literature as an explanation for an individual life. Modern assembly lines emerged, producing material in mass amounts. Although less educated individuals were able to get jobs, they were treated very poorly. This period reduced the population’s self-confidence severely. Essentially citizens moved down in the ranks between 1890-1910.
Modernist writing is known for being hard to comprehend. John Steinbeck is content with people not understanding his books. For example, The Grapes of Wrath is confusing because he claims it is “A book about the public, not for the public”. (Steinbeck 128) He writes about events that happened to the citizens in depth. Steinbeck is reacting to t...
... middle of paper ...
...s, they have their own writing style which sets them apart.
The large cultural wave of modernism emerged in Europe. The same wave traveled to the United States in the early years of the 19th century. Modernism generally expressed a sense of modern life through poetry. Modern life appeared very different from traditional life. It was faster with more science and technology. Modernism settled these changes.
Modernism helps readers understand and looker deeper into a writer’s work. The reader is able to analyze and breakdown the authors story. The author also has a point of view which also can be broken down. For example, T.S. Eliot in the “Wasteland”, leaves parts of the story to the reader’s imagination. This gives an opportunity to the reader to create an opinion of there own. This writing style is more involving and it is different from the ordinary technique.
Modernism indicates a branch of movements in art (Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism; Cubism; Expressionism; Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art. Etc.) with distinct characteristics, it firmly rejects its classical precedent and classical style, what Walter Benjamin would refer to as “destructive liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural heritage”; and it explores the etiology of a present historical situation and of its attendant forms of self-consciousness in the West. Whereas Modernity is often used as ...
Modernism is the term of deviating from the norm. In the early 1900s, modernism influenced women’s role in society by providing more opportunities, jobs, and role models for girls today, in society.
The Modernist Fiction period took place during the 1920’s and revolutionized the American way of life in literature, economically, and socially. There was a national vision of upward mobility during this time that represented the American Dream. The upward mobility was seen through the consumerism and materialism that dominated this decade economically. Popular novels of this time reflected the mass consumerism in the lives of those wrote them. During the American Modernist Fiction period, Americans became increasingly materialistic throughout the roaring twenties; therefore, the American Dream was to obtain upper class status through the possession of material goods, which was reflected in many of this period’s works.
In the modernism there was no focus on the plot events, instead the writers focused on characters' consciousness. Ambiguity and complexity were valued at that time. Modernists often work towards open endings and used the narrative gaps. In the early modernism the technique of Stream of Consciousness was widely used to know more about the human sense. Modernism was influenced by naturalism and realism. Its social content is characteristically avant-grade (Drabble 682). Moreover, the 20th century is one of the most important periods in English drama. New ideas, terms and styles have been introduced as a result of the atmosphere. Writers on that time expressed their anger and scorn as a result of the wars and the revolutions. There were many social changes at that time and the playwrights started to tackle that in their plays (Innes
The modernist style of writing is one of disillusionment, frustration and loss of hope. The modernist writers did not try to point out silver linings or brighter futures, instead they explored the depths of the sorrows of life in the time of the great depression and the long road to recovery from it. Most of these writers blamed the modernization of America for the stock market crash that brought on the great depression. Likewise, modern politics drew America into not only one, but two world wars. At the same time, modern intellectual advancements challenged or usurped traditional beliefs and values.
What is real? In a modernist point of view the world shouldn't be called reality. But if the world isn't reality what is it then? What is reality in modernism? Modernism is a rejection of realism, which believed that science will save the world and where notion of science and social determinism is idealized. In modernism, science explains everything, which took away all the power of God, He became useless. In a way, life had lost its mystery, man, not God, could rule the world. Irving Howe, a literary critic, once talked about modernism as an "unyielding rage against the existing order". (Van Dusen, 1998) Nevertheless, modernism is also an era of disappointment; people are preoccupied with the meaning and the purpose of existence. They are in search of new values and in something new. Modernism first took place in the Jazz age and/or the roaring twenties; this period was all about prohibition and intolerance, flappers, gangsters, and crime. In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment made it illegal to manufacture or sell alcohol. This helped to create a network of criminal organization in the trade of illegal alcohol. Moreover, in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment gave the women the right to vote, which is what probably helped alter the traditional moral and social standards dramatically; women began to assert new freedoms such as going out with no chaperon, wearing less constrictive clothing, and smoking in public. During that time, a circle of writers was formed "The lost generation". They moved to more culturally vibrant cities of Europe, especially Paris, after World War I. "These writers, looking for freedom of thought and action, changed the face of modern writing. Realistic and rebellious, they wrote what they wanted and fought censorship for profanity and sexuality. They incorporated Freudian ideas into their characters and styles." (Whitley, 2002) These authors wrote about what they wanted and talk openly about sexuality. They created a type of literature appropriate to what they thought was the modern life, after World War I. They used new techniques and addressed new subjects in reaction to the changes of the early twentieth century.
The Modernist period was a time in history when there were many changes. These changes varied from the American Dream to the literary styles and techniques. The American Dream became less complex and was more flexible than ever. It varied from the changing lifestyles to the change in literature. Helping to shape the nation into what we see today. People were focusing more on themselves and wanting to be known, and they also wanted to have money. Living life with an optimistic viewpoint.
It is a period when traditional values start to change.This movement causes innovations in science,art,culture,ethics,philosophy and psychology.It intends to find new or hidden meanings in the human experience.It’s main aim is to deal with new ideas.It is a break with the tradition.Modernist Poetry occurs between the 1890 and 1970.It’s key elements can be experimentation,anti realism,individualism.Experimentation means searching constantly.Anti-realism means to be against realism and concreteness.Individualism means to be an intellectual and to be an individual who has a self-confidence.The stress is mainly on the human mind rather than emotions.Many Modernist poets are from Universities,they appreciate their work a lot.It is a movement which is complex and diversed.It takes some of the important aspects from the movements.Modernism supports that every aspect from industry to philosophy should be interrogated.In this way,culture’s elements could be replaced by the new ones.The Modernist English poets write against the rules that are put by Victorian Poetry.They never deny the past poets or past works.They see themselves as they are respecting the earlier periods and other cultures.Their poems seem to be in longer form i...
The modernist period was a time of change. After World War II many people found themselves unhappy, lonely, and depressed. With the groundbreaking influences of Karl Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche, many people began to question their own reality. What did it mean to exist? What was life, and what was death? The modernist author reflected this change, and confronted these questions with enthusiasm. Together modernist artists became the representative voice of the people. This voice transcended all forms of art, but was most successful in the written word. Through the experimentation of language and form, the modernist author managed to convey the meaninglessness felt by many, and created a light in the darkness of an uncertain world. Ernest Hemingway's short stories titled "A clean well-lighted Place", and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited" are two notable examples of literary art during the modernist period.
In the early 20th century several movements occurred in America and Europe, therefore it was an era that characterized by the imperialism industrialization which polarized the nation into two categories of high and the low class. And the western culture dominated most of the world possessions. The U.S was able to have power over their land and they gained high economic and political power. The American did not allow other countries free trade to enter their lands. Furthermore, the Modernism Cultural movements allow many artists to present their styles in a unique form of expression. Modernism is characterized radically by breaking down the trends which occurred in the past of the 19th century. Moreover, Pablo Picasso, he was a phenomenal modern artist; Picasso was very famous for all of his work of art especially the cubism arts. Therefore, some viewers consider his art to be disturbing because they...
William Butler Yeats was one of the most famous poets of the nineteenth century. Even though William Butler Yeats wrote both Victorian and Modernistic literature, he still had a large impact on the modernistic style. “After 1910, Yeats's dramatic art took a sharp turn toward a highly poetical, static, and esoteric style” (nobelprize.org). Even though Yeats was considered a patriot, “he deplored the hatred and bigotry of the Nationalist movement” This concern was new in the Modernism era.
Modernism can be defined as the post-industrial revolutionary era, where which the western world began to see a change in all spheres of living. The effects of the industrial revolution became prevalent towards the end of the nineteenth century and the modernist movement drew inspiration from this widespread change. Artists, writers, architects, designers and musicians, all began to embrace the changing world and denounce their pre-taught doctrines and previous ways of producing work. Society felt the urge to progressively move forward toward a modern way of thinking and living.
...ople think about literary movements as reacting against earlier modes of writing and earlier movements For example, just as modernism is often seen as response to realism”. (Citation; WHAT IS AMERICAN LITERATURE? AN OVERVIEW; http://www.learner.org/amerpass/ampasspg3-30.pdf)
Michael Levenson said in The Cambridge Companion to Modernism that Modernism fiction was “involved in the radical modern departure, across all of the arts, from representational verisimilitudei”. It was stylistically and thematically focused on rebellion against the way art was presented in the past and what its main focus was.
Modernism began as a movement in that late 19th, early 20th centuries. Artists started to feel restricted by the styles and conventions of the Renaissance period. Thusly came the dawn of Modernism in many different forms, ranging from Impressionism to Cubism.