American Literary Modernism

1. "the greatest single fact about our modern American writing is our writers' absorption in every last detail of their American world together with their deep and subtle alienation from it." - Alfred Kazin American Literary Modernism

2. Literary Modernism: 1915-1945 high degree of experimentation. characters most often alienated people searching unsuccessfully for meaning and love in their lives themes pulled from real life.

3. A Brief Overview of the Intellectual Currents which Influenced Modernism Philosophy and Theory: 

4. Darwinism Charles Darwin Evolution Displacement of the human position of privilege Collapsing of boundaries between human and animal

5. Existentialist Philosophy Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche Economic and psychological determinism No divine patterns Search for meaning War and spiritual trauma

6. Freudian Theory Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis Psychological determinism Forces inside the self impact human behavior Sexuality and repression

7. Marxism Karl Marx Economic determinism Forces outside the self impact human behavior Class struggle Relationship between labor and capitol

8. Major Influences

9. Major Influences WWI 32 countries and claimed the lives of over 20 million people new weapons b/c of technology Signals an end to idealism and ushered in an era marked by hedonism*, political corruption, and ruthless business practices The Jazz Age / Roaring Twenties �the greatest, gaudiest spree in history� (FSF) Young people rebelling against past + tradition Experimentation with fashion

10. Major Influences Prohibition (1920-1933) Alcohol was made illegal Bootleggers= sold alcohol anyway Speakeasies= where alcohol was served despite prohibition New Era for Women The right to vote (19th am.) Flapper= �an emancipated young woman who embraced new fashions and urban attitudes of the day� More women working

11. Major Influences The Great Depression Stock Market crashed in 1929 Banks failed, businesses floundered, workers lost job; 25% unemployed Farmers ruined and went West to find work. Tough times. Not many jobs and too many people. The New Deal (FDR) New Deal programs: relief for the hungry and homeless, recovery for agriculture and business, and various economic reforms to prevent such a severe depression from occurring again.

12. A Brief Overview of the Intellectual Currents which Influenced Modernism Philosophy and Theory: 

13. Themes of Modern Literature Collectivism versus individualism Anxiety regarding the past Historical discontinuity Disillusionment Violence and alienation Decadence and decay Loss and despair Breakdown of social norms and cultural sureties Race and gender relations Sense of place, local color

14. Formal Aspects of Modern Literature Formal experimentation Free indirect discourse: a style of third-person narration which combines some of the characteristics of third-person report with first-person direct speech. Passages written using free indirect speech are often ambiguous as to whether they convey the views, feelings and thoughts of the narrator or those of the character the narrator is describing. This allows a flexible and sometimes ironic interaction of internal and external perspectives. Stream of consciousness narration: a narrative mode which seeks to portray an individual�s point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character�s thought processes, either through loose interior monologue or in connection to action.

15. The Modern Self The chief characteristic of the self is alienation. The �Lost Generation� (Gertrude Stein) �Dissociation of Sensibility� (T.S. Eliot) The �Dream Deferred� (Langston Hughes) The modern self is often unable to act, feel, or express love The modern self has a tormented recollection of the past

16. The Jazz Age/Roaring 20s �the greatest, gaudiest spree in history� (FSF) Young people rebelling against past + tradition Experimentation with fashion Actively seeking out fun and freedom

17. Major Authors American Literary Modernism:

18. Djuna Barnes Began her writing career as a reporter Poet and novelist Expatriate writer Major work: Nightwood (1936)

19. John Dos Passos Critique of materialism in early works Literature includes fragments of pop songs, news headlines, stream-of-consciousness monologues, naturalistic fragments from the lives of a horde of unrelated characters Major works: Manhattan Transfer (1925), U.S.A. (1938)

20. T.S. Eliot The most dominant literary figure between the two world wars. Influential poet and literary critic. Conceives of the poem as an object demanding a fusion and concentration of intellect, feeling, and experience. Major Works: Prufrock and Other Observations (1917), The Waste Land (1922)

21. William Faulkner Southern American writer Many works center on the mythical Yoknapatawpha county Experimental techniques include stream-of-consciousness and dislocation of narrative time Focus on issues of sex, class, race relations The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), Absalom, Absalom! (1936)

22. Ernest Hemingway �Iceberg Theory of literature (one-eighth above water) Spare, tight journalistic prose style Objective, detached point of view Examination of masculinity, gender Major works: The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)

23. Gertrude Stein Expatriate Author Coined the term �Lost Generation� Patron of authors and artists as well as artistic innovator �Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.� Major works: Three Lives (1909), The Making of Americans (1925)

24. F. Scott Fitzgerald Focus on Jazz Age and Great Depression Examination of American materialism Exploration of the American dream Major works: The Great Gatsby (1925), Tender is the Night (1934)

28. Represents Failure of the American Dream Failures Poverty Discrimination Exploitation Hypocrisy Corruption Suppression Developed through the 5 central characters certain dominant images and symbols Through diction. The American Dream has totally failed to bring any kind of fulfillment, whether spiritual or material. For all the progress and prosperity, for all the declaration of democratic principles, there are still poverty, discrimination, exploitation As far as morality and values, there are also hypocrisy, cu=corruption and suppression. The Great Gatsby also comments on this. Condition.The American Dream has totally failed to bring any kind of fulfillment, whether spiritual or material. For all the progress and prosperity, for all the declaration of democratic principles, there are still poverty, discrimination, exploitation As far as morality and values, there are also hypocrisy, cu=corruption and suppression. The Great Gatsby also comments on this. Condition.