Hello everyone,
This blog is a part of a reflective exercise on various trends and movements in English literature during the modern and post-modern age.
This introductory presentation covers a range of trends and movements.
Modernism
Modernism is a loosely categorized international artistic and intellectual trend that emerged in the late 19th century, reaching its most extreme development on the brink of World War I. This cultural shift grew out of the transformation in philosophical, scientific, political, and ideological thinking brought about by the Industrial Revolution's impact on society. The movement's influences extended beyond just before World War I to also shape the ideas and environment of the post-war period. Modernist writers broke the traditional norm of writing literature and practiced many different writing forms and styles. During the early 20th century, authors like Henry James, Virginia Woolf, and Joseph Conrad explored narrative innovations by experimenting with temporal shifts and changes in points of view in their novels, and they employed the technique like Stream of Consciousness.
"Make it New" and "Beak the Pentameter" were the watchwords of the modernism given by Ezra Pound. Moreover, Wasteland was also published in 1922, and became the archetypal modernist text, a modern epic poem.
Modernism also gave rise to other smaller movements as well, such as, Expressionism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Imagism, Objectivism and Postmodernism.
Characteristics of Modernism
- After the turmoil of First World War, people lost their belief in everything and their perception towards the reality of life was changed.
- "Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin, an evolution theory challenged traditional religious beliefs, and explained the diversity of life on earth.
- People started to question the values of imperialism, and realism is questioned.
- An individual is at the center of the modernism.
- Modernist writers were greatly influenced by critical and rational minds of Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Fredrich Nietzsche, who raised the questions of existence and rationality of mind.
- Modernism in literature is marked by strong reaction against traditional writing norms, writers practiced many new literary form and styles., and developed new styles, such as, the use of unreliable narrator and stream of consciousness technique.
Characteristics of Modernist Literature
- Refusal of coherent meaning
- Rejection of realism
- Subjectivity
- Split temporalities
- Unstable identity
- Idiosyncratic language
- Metafiction
- Experimental forms
- Split identities
- 10. Focus on interiority
- 11. Unreliable narrator
Post-modernism
Characteristics of Post-modernist Literature
- Ambivalent stance towards realism
- split temporalities
- ironic narrator
- metafiction
- fragmentation
- multiple points of view
- focus on exteriority
- pastiche
- irony
- black humor
- intertextuality
Comparison Between Modernism and Post-modernism
- Belief in universal truths and grand narratives about the human experience
- Focus on order, logic, rationality, objective truth
- Literary features like stream of consciousness, interior monologues
- Belief in social progress through science and technology
- Skepticism of universal truths and grand narratives, emphasis on pluralism
- Focus on fragmentation, subjectivity, randomness, and uncertainty
- Blurring of boundaries between high and low culture
- Use of pastiche, irony, playfulness, mixing of styles
- Rejection of distinction between "high" and "low" culture
- Doubt about or rejection of social progress narratives
- Emphasis on the role of language and discourse in constructing realities
Surrealism
Expressionism
da Vinci, Leonardo. “Expressionism | Definition, Characteristics, Artists, Music, Theater, Film, & Facts.” Britannica, 14 February 2024, https://www.britannica.com/art/Expressionism. Accessed 3 March 2024.
Matteo, Virginia. “What's the Difference Between Modernism and Postmodernism in Literature?” Owlcation, 27 October 2023, https://owlcation.com/humanities/Whats-The-Difference-Between-Modernism-and-Postmodernism. Accessed 2 March 2024.
North's, Astrid. “Postmodernism Explained.” Owlcation, 20 October 2023, https://owlcation.com/humanities/Postmodernism-Explained. Accessed 2 March 2024.