Modernism

Difference between Realism and Modernism  Whereas REALISM Emphasized absolutism, and Believed that a single reality could be determined through the observation of nature  MODERNISM Argued for cultural relativism, And believed that people make their own meaning in the world.

Value Differences in the Modern World Pre-Modern WorldModern World (Early 20 th Century) OrderedChaotic MeaningfulFutile OptimisticPessimistic StableFluctuating FaithLoss of faith Morality/ValuesCollapse of Morality/Values Clear Sense of IdentityConfused Sense of Identity and Place in the World

World War I:1914 ( )

WWI: Doughboys and Air Fights

WWI: Trench War Fare and Poison Gas

Russian Revolution: 1917

Social Snapshot of the Times  Result of Political Turmoil Revolutionary Ideologies Rise  Fascism The separation and persecution or denial of equality to a certain group based on race, creed, or origin  Nazism Socialism featuring racism, expansionism and obedience to a strong leader  Communism Control of the means of production should rest in the hands of the laborers.

Fascism and Nazism

Communism

Social Snapshot of the Times  Scientific Revolution Quantum theory  Explains the nature of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic level Principle of Uncertainty  In quantum mechanics: increasing the accuracy of measurement of one observable quantity increases the uncertainty with which another may be known

Forces Behind Modernism  The sense that our culture has no center, no values.  Paradigm shift from the closed, finite, measurable, cause- and-effect universe of the 19th century to an open, relativistic, changing, strange universe;

Characteristics of Modernism in Literature  Literature Exhibits Perspectivism Meaning comes from the individual’s perspective and is thus personalized; A single story might be told from the perspective of several different people, with the assumption that the “truth” is somewhere in the middle

Characteristics of Modernism in Literature  Inner psychological reality or “interiority” is represented o Stream of consciousness—portraying the character’s inner monologue

Characteristic of Modernism in Literature  Perception of language changes: No longer seen as transparent, allowing us to “see through” to reality; But now considered the way an individual constructs reality; Language is “thick” with multiple meanings and varied connotative forces.

Characteristic of Modernism in Literature  Emphasis on the Experimental Art is artifact rather than reality; Organized non-sequentially  Experience portrayed as layered, allusive, discontinuous, using fragmentation and juxtaposition. Ambiguous endings—open endings which are seen as more representative of reality.

The Armory Show: International Exhibition of Modern Art, 1913  Watershed date in American art  Introduced astonished New Yorkers, accustomed to realistic art, to modern art;  Teddy Roosevelt said, “That’s not art!”

Modernist Movement  Swept along by disillusionment with traditions that seemed spiritually empty  Called for bold experimentation and rejection of traditional themes and styles  For some, the American Dream dies in this period

Modernist Influences Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud  The “unconscious mind” “Freudian slip”  New understanding of sexuality  “cigar just a cigar” “Oedipal conflict” Anxiety over our level of freedom – if influenced by our unconscious mind – little is left of free will RESULT BECOMES STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Disillusionment T.S. Eliot “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”  “The Wasteland”  Reflects sterility and barrenness of the land  Spiritual decay and despair  Ernest Hemingway Used plain style Hero was disillusioned yet noble and courageous

Modernism Timeline  1914: Outbreak of WWI  1917: US enters war, Russian Revolution  1919: WWI ends, Einstein’s Relativity theory confirmed, Prohibition begins

Modernism Timeline  1920 League of Nations begins; 19 th Amendment granting women the vote  1921—Irish Free State proclaimed  1922—Fascists march on Rome under Mussolini  1923—Charleston craze

Modernism Timeline  1925— Image of human face televised Hitler published Mein Kampf  1927 Lindbergh flies solo across Atlantic Al Jolson, first talkie

Modernism Timeline  1929—US stock market crashes;  1933 Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany First German concentration camps Prohibition ends in US

Modernism Timeline  1934—Hitler becomes dictator  1936—Civil War in Spain begins  1938—Germany occupies Austria  1939 Hitler and Stalin make pact; Germany invades Poland Great Britain and France declare war on Germany

Modernism Timeline  1941 Germany invades USSR Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, US enters war  1942 Battle of Stalingrad, Battle of Midway; T-shirt invented  1944—D-Day invasion of France

Modernism Timeline  1945 End of war in Europe Atomic bomb dropped on Japan First computer built Microwave oven invented United Nations founded

Freewrite  How do the stories in Dubliners exhibit the characteristics of Modernism? Give specific example