LITERARY MODERNISM

1900-1950

DISILLUSIONMENT: THE KEY WORD FOR THE MODERN PERIOD IN LITERATURE

Disillusionment definition : freedom from belief, conviction, or faith; a state of skepticism or cynicism

WHAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE DISILLUSIONMENT?

1) The devastation of WWI (1914-1918)

2) The Stock Market Crash (1929) and Great Depression

As a result, Americans began to wonder if the American dream – the belief in social progress and economic opportunity for all – is really attainable!

NEW DISILLUSIONING IDEOLOGIES:1) Marxism: “maybe

history is about power dynamics and class struggle!”

2) Psychoanalysis: “maybe we’re slaves to our own brute impulses”

Not the most optimistic perspectives on humankind!

3 KEY FEATURES OF MODERNIST LITERATURE:

1. Emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form, reflecting the fragmentation of society

3. Rejection of the ideal hero as infallible in favor of a hero who is flawed and disillusioned

Poet T.S.Eliot

3. Interest in the inner workings of the human mind, sometimes expressed through new narrative techniques such as stream of consciousness

THE MODERNIST MOVEMENT IN POETRY CALLED IMAGISM: The Imagist followed some of these “rules” in their poetry:1. Present one intense image 2. Use common speech in poetry.3. Choose words with great precision and

economy.4. Use free verse in order to escape

traditional rhythms

EZRA POUND’S “IN A STATION OF THE METRO”

The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS’ “THE RED WHEELBARROW”so much dependsupon

a red wheelbarrow

glazed with rainwater

beside the whitechickens.