Contemporary Literature

1. Contemporary Literature 1950 – Present

2. How Did it Come About? • The aftermath of WW II ushered in an age of rapid developments in science and technology. • The postwar years offered many Americans increased opportunities for economic and cultural growth, but the individual person seems lost in the fast-paced, computerized world.

3. Contemporary fiction • Contemporary fiction allows for multiple meanings and multiple worlds, uses nontraditional forms, and comments upon itself. • However, it embraces traditional storytellers as well as postmodern risk-takers. • It features cultural diversity, criss-crosses the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, and uses subjects, images, and themes from the past fearlessly.

4. Contemporary Nonfiction • Contemporary nonfiction has become a field equal to fiction, though questions about terminology and accuracy still give rise to controversy. • New Journalism (or Literary Journalism) has added personal and fictional elements to nonfiction, enhancing its popularity with today’s readers.

5. Contemporary Poetry • By the early 1950s, many writers and readers felt that modernist poetry – impersonal, allusive, difficult – was no longer appropriate. The times called for a more personal and accessible approach that challenged complacency and convention. • Landmarks in the revolt against modernist poetry included poems by Alan Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, and Ann Sexton.

6. Contemporary Literature (1945-present) Historical Context: • The British Empire declines. • The legacy of the WWII, especially the Holocaust, the American A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki inform much of the literature of the earlier period; literature reflects a sense of psychic exhaustion resulting from the trauma and deprivation of the war years. • Increased immigration is brought about by the need for a larger workforce; racism becomes an issue. • Cold War develops between the Allies and the USSR. • Changes take place in class structure, social hierarchy, gender identity, the role of women, moral values, attitudes towards family. • World grows smaller due to advances in technology; media culture interprets values and events for individuals; world enters a new millenium

7. Contemporary Literature (1945-present) • The key social, political, and cultural changes in Britain, and in the world, since the WWII has had a profound impact on literature. • Established notions of the literary have been challenged from a previously marginalized perspectives (e.g., feminist, post-colonial). • The thematic and linguistic range of literature has widened; a more liberal cultural climate allowed greater freedom in the representation of sexuality and sexual orientation. • By 1970’s, the departure from traditional narrative modes gained momentum, shifting away from traditional realism to magic realism, leading to post-modernism.

8. Contemporary Literature (1945-present) • Fragmentary, non-linear narrative structures, increasingly adopted throughout the 70’s and 80’s mirrored the period’s gradual breakdown of political and cultural consensus. • Mass genocide and the still-present nuclear threat led writers to reassess the validity of what postmodern theorists called “grand narratives”, stories or myths that offer a single, coherent view of the world.