The Twentieth Century The Modern and Postmodern Periods

January 21, 1901 Victoria dies and is succeeded by her son, Edward VII.

Political and social events during the early twentieth century altered Great Britain’s preeminent position as a world power and dramatically changed its society.

Former British colonies— Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand— gained their independence during the first decade. The Arrival by Christopher R. W. Nevinson,

A rise in literacy, the growing power and influence of the Labour party, the widespread interest in socialist ideology—all dramatically changed Great Britain and the world.

Darwin, Marx, and Freud: Undermining Victorian Ideas

The writings of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud caused people to question many of the social, religious, and economic beliefs of the Victorian period. Darwin, Marx, and Freud: Undermining Victorian Ideas

Social Darwinism--the notion that in society only the fittest should survive and flourish--was an extension of Darwin’s scientific theories. It was used to justify unrestricted competition, rigid class distinctions, indifference to social problems, and doctrines of racial superiority. Darwin, Marx, and Freud: Undermining Victorian Ideas

Karl Marx, German philosopher and political economist, advocated the abolition of private property. His theories of social and economic justice revolutionized political thought and led to sweeping governmental and economic changes. Darwin, Marx, and Freud: Undermining Victorian Ideas

Sigmund Freud’s psychological theories found the motives for human behavior in the irrational and sexually-driven realm of the unconscious, which is manifest only in our dreams. Darwin, Marx, and Freud: Undermining Victorian Ideas

The Great War: “A War to End All Wars” Return to the Front, 1917, by Richard Jack

The Great War: “A War to End All Wars” “You are ordered abroad as a soldier of the king to help our French comrades against the invasion of a common enemy.... Do your duty bravely. Fear God. Honor the king.” --Lord Kitchener, 1914

The Great War: “A War to End All Wars” After the Great War, in which nearly one million British soldiers died, many people in Great Britain developed a cynical attitude toward government and such values as national honor and glory.

The Great War: “A War to End All Wars” With the armistice in 1918, a new cynicism arose. The old values of national honor and glory had endorsed a war whose results were recognized as a weakened economy, a tottering colonial empire, and a loss of life equal to many plagues.

The Great War: “A War to End All Wars” Out of disillusionment came a pessimism about the state and the individual’s relation to society. A new realism swept in...

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, by Pablo Picasso

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Dramatic trends in the arts between are collectively known as Modernism.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Objectivity or impersonality— no direct statements of thoughts/feelings A rejection of realistic depictions of life in favor of images for artistic effect Critical attention to the spiritual troubles of modern life

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content The Dance, 1910, by Henri Matisse

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content New painters exhibiting in Paris in 1905 were called les fauvres (the wild beasts) for their bold new use of line and color.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content In 1913, Igor Stravinsky’s revolutionary music for the ballet, The Rite of Spring, was marked by strong, primitive (sexual) rhythms and dissonant harmonies.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content All these works challenged traditional values of beauty and order and opened new avenues of expression.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Novelists were moving from a concern with society to a focus on introspection.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Virginia Woolf D.H. Lawrence James Joyce

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, and James Joyce experimented with form and content to challenge the conventions and limits of the novel.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Virginia Woolf rejected chronological order in storytelling. She probed the human mind by using a shifting point of view.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content D.H. Lawrence shocked the British with his glorification of the senses and heated descriptions of relations between the sexes.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content James Joyce drew on myth and symbol, on explorations of sexuality, and on new conceptions of time and human consciousness.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content

The closing lines of Heart of Darkness sum up the 20 th century’s vision of the future...

“The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky—seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.”

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Poets experimented less with form, more with content. They rejected traditional mythology and symbols and made up their own.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Poets took up political causes, often leaning towards socialistic ideals.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Irish poet William Butler Yeats ( ) led the Irish Literary Revival. He became involved in politics and supported the movement for Irish independence.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content In 1925 Yeats published a work (A Vision) that explained the mythology, symbolism, and philosophy that he strove to express in his poetry.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content He believed that history occurs in 2000-year cycles, during which a particular civilization is born, grows, and decays. Each civilization then gives way to a new one that is the direct opposite of it.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Yeats believed that the society of the early 20 th century was decaying and would lead to another sort of rebirth, very different from the birth of Christ.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Yeats used his own personal symbolism, rather than traditional ones, to express his ideas in a unique manner. The Widening Gyre of Yeats’ “Second Coming”

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content

T.S. Eliot was a leader of the artistic movement of Modernism, beginning in the 1920s.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Eliot’s poetry is difficult to understand because it is filled with subtle, even obscure, allusions to myth, history, religion, and other literature. But his themes are universal.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content According to Eliot, the poet’s mind is merely a catalyst that causes images and feelings to combine, but the poem doesn’t reflect the poet himself.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion.... The emotion of art is impersonal.” -- T.S. Eliot

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content “The Hollow Men” originated out of discarded fragments of other poems. It deals with the post-WWI sense of emotional and spiritual barrenness.

Experimentation in the Arts: Shocking in Form and Content Key Allusions in “Hollow Men”: 1.Joseph Conrad’s novella “Heart of Darkness” 2.Guy Fawkes & the Gunpowder Plot of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 4.Dante’s Divine Comedy

The Rise of Dictatorships: Origins of WWII

The worldwide depression of the 1930s gave rise to dictatorships in Europe and led to the horrors of World War II.

The Rise of Dictatorships: Origins of WWII In Italy and Germany, the form of totalitarianism that developed was fascism, a type of government that relies on the rule of a single dictator whose power is absolute.

The Rise of Dictatorships: Origins of WWII Benito Mussolini (Italy) used brutality and manipulation to hold control. Adolf Hitler (Germany) capitalized on Germany’s economic woes to convince Germans that their problems were caused by Jews, Communists, and immigrants.

The Rise of Dictatorships: Origins of WWII Nikolai Lenin (Russia) based his government on Marx’s theories (Communism). He created a society without a class system, which would divide wealth equally among all the people.

The Rise of Dictatorships: Origins of WWII Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared “We shall go on to the end,” in response to devastating air attacks by Germany against London.

The Rise of Dictatorships: Origins of WWII Small wonder that much of the literature following WWII was dark and pessimistic.

Britain After WWII: The Sun Sets on the Empire Irish Republic Army in Northern Ireland

Britain After WWII: The Sun Sets on the Empire After WWII, most of Great Britain’s colonies became independent, and Britain’s role in world affairs decreased.

Britain After WWII: The Sun Sets on the Empire Britain’s most vexing political and social problem was its uneasy dealings with Ireland. Turmoil caused by the IRA resulted in the deaths of thousands in the endless controversy over British rule in Northern Ireland.

Britain After WWII: The Sun Sets on the Empire Britain was transformed into a welfare state. The government assumed responsibility for providing medical care and other basic benefits for its citizens.

Postmodernism Post-modernism is defined as the artistic movement after WWII. While modernists created new forms, Postmodernists throw the concept of form into question.

Postmodernism Postmodernism is characterized by a loss of belief in the meaningful dividing line between “high” culture and “low” culture, so that in Pop Art, the subject matter of fine art can be a cartoon.

Postmodernism Roy Lichtenstein

Postmodernism Andy Warhol

British Writing Today: A Remarkable Diversity

The Monarchy in Postcolonial Britain Elizabeth II (1952-?)

The Monarchy in Postcolonial Britain The House of Windsor rules a kingdom in transition from its colonial past. Today, the crown’s functions are mostly ceremonial. Royals serve at official functions and charitable affairs.