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Modernism 1914-1960

Modernism 1914-1960. Modernism uses a radical change in form and style. Form changes occurred in music, art and especially literature with stream of consciousness narration. Modernism replaces the logical sequence of ideas with a collage sense of story-telling.

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Modernism 1914-1960

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  1. Modernism 1914-1960

  2. Modernism uses a radical change in form and style

  3. Form changes occurred in music, art and especially literature with stream of consciousness narration

  4. Modernism replaces the logical sequence of ideas with a collage sense of story-telling

  5. So modern novels lack linear flow and instead writers use a jumble of images to tell a story

  6. Modern writers use new psychological theories

  7. The idea of going to a therapist to solve your problems was just beginning, so writers used psychological theories to drive their characters

  8. Writers rejected traditional middle-class ideals and values

  9. Writers blamed the world wars on the materialistic ideals of the middle-class, so traditional heroes and topics were abandoned

  10. Historical Influences • The War Years • Soldiers = new perspective after seeing the world + war • Postwar “Big Boom” • Roaring 20s – Modern youths rebel • Breakdown of traditional values • “the lost generation” (Gertrude Stein)

  11. Historical Influences cntd. • Harlem Renaissance • Increased passion and creativity in the black community of NYC • Jazz and blues flourished: Duke Ellington + Bessie Smith • As did literature: Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright

  12. Historical Influences cntd. • 1930s: Great Depression • New Deal Programs • Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

  13. Elements of Modernism • The way stories are told is very different • Form changes • The stories are often told through stream of consciousness • No outside narrator, authors try to replicate the way the mind thinks • Collage story-telling, not cause and effect • no more first this happened, then that happened • Stories are now a mish-mash of events without progression • Psychological theories drive the characters • Authors create characters based on Freud’s theories of the subconscious • Middle class values and middle-class heroes are rejected • The pursuit of material wealth is considered the cause of WWI and WWII, so they were rejected

  14. Common Themes Common themes in Modernist literature often include: • Violence and alienation • Decadence and decay • Loss and despair • Race relations • Unavoidable change • Search for meaning

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