Modernism

What is Modernism?

 MODERNISM Argued for cultural relativism, (Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words, “right” and “wrong” are culture- specific; what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs. 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

Snapshot of the Times: Implications for Nature of Reality  Many-worlds (multi-verse) theory As soon as the potential exists for any object to be in any state, the universe of the object transmutes into a series of parallel universes equaling the number of possible states in which an object can exist. Stephen Hawking posits the possibility for interaction between universes.  Copenhagen interpretation: nothing exists until it is measured: Schrödinger's cat (dead and alive)

Schrödinger's cat

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.

Cubism  Cubism— Art in which multiple views are presented simultaneously in flattened, geometric way.

Futurism  Futurism—grew out of Cubism. Added implied motion to the shifting planes and multiple observation points of the Cubists; Celebrated natural as well as mechanical motion and speed. Glorified danger, war, and the machine

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