Modernism Prior to World War I (A World of Change) World War 1 (The Great World War) The Jazz Age ( ) Modernist Writers The American Dream

World War I changed the world as no other event in history ever did. The first TOTAL war: what does this mean? Advances in war technology (machine guns, airplanes, tanks, barbed wire) Devastation/hopelessness ½ of European males perished Trench Warfare Over 16 million dead; 20 million wounded; approx. 10million military; 7 million civilians

What effect did this kind of devastation have on art and literature? Rejection of the ideal hero (romantic hero) Loss of faith in the American Dream Experimental art and literature. A sense of alienation of the individual. A sense of hopelessness. (Not that everyone was hopeless. There was a profound sense of loss.) The past is not as relevant as it used to be. Collapse of the values of the past - if the values of the past brought us the great war..... New types of music (jazz); Moving pictures; experimental visual arts; changing fashions for both men and women; Maybe there was a sense in the 1920s (the Jazz Age) that life was short. Let's live it up, so to speak. Throw out the old.

The Jazz Age Post WW1 ( ) PROHIBITION ( ) (18th amendment - Volstead Act) (repealed with the 21 st amendment) American women given universal suffrage (1920) - 19th amendment PROSPERITY THE AMERICAN DREAM THE STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929 (USHERED IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930s.) (The U.S. entered the war in 1941) We would not start to come out of the devastating Great Depression until we entered WWII ( ) The era following the SECOND WORLD WAR is referred to as POST-MODERNISM (in art and literature)

Modernist Writers (A few of the many) Virginia Woolf (British) F. Scott Fitzgerald (American) Ezra Pound (American Poet) James Joyce (Irish) Ernest Hemingway (American journalist and fiction writer) William Faulkner (American) Gertrude Stein (American) Herman Hesse (German)

The American Dream The land of opportunity was available to all. Every man, no matter where he came from, could pursue and attain his goals if he followed a well- defined set of behavioral rules. Spiritual satisfaction would automatically go hand in hand with material success. The American Dream entailed – optimism and hope for personal fulfillment. – Great potential for each man or woman regardless of status in life and the hope for greatness.

The American Dream cont… Optimism faded by the 1920s. Americans were… – Saddened by the horrors of WW1, distressed by poverty of large segments of the population and disillusioned by the great inequality of wealth. Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is a myth and illusion His American dream was self-gratifying; gaudy and cheap pursuit of pleasure Intense search for money and prestige outweighed the importance of spiritual satisfaction and virtue in America Pleasure-seeking lifestyle tarnished the idea of the American Dream

The Southern Gothic Tradition: movements in American literature

What is Southern Gothic Literature? A subgenre of traditional Gothic literature Authors and settings uniquely located in the South Takes traditional Antebellum stereotypes (the southern belle/gentleman, slaves) and updates them to make a comment on traditional Southern values and morals

Elements in Southern Gothic Literature Writing styles depend largely on traditional gothic elements and often include: – The supernatural, grotesque, or ironic – Often include mental diseases and taboo issues such as rape and racism – Southern Gothic is also known for its damaged and delusional characters

The Southern Gothic Characters Characters often seem superficially traditional, however are much darker in personality than at first glance (think the typical dysfunctional family). The Southern Gothic author usually avoids perpetuating Antebellum stereotypes like the contented slave, the demure Southern belle, the chivalrous gentleman, or the righteous Christian preacher. Instead, the writer takes classic Gothic archetypes, such as the damsel in distress or the heroic knight, and portrays them in a more modern and realistic manner — transforming them into, for example, a spiteful and reclusive spinster, or a white-suited lawyer with ulterior motives. One of the most notable features of the Southern Gothic is "The Grotesque”— this includes situations, places, or stock characters that often possess some cringe-inducing qualities, typically racial bigotry and egotistical self-righteousness — but enough good traits that readers find themselves interested nevertheless.

While often disturbing, Southern Gothic authors commonly use deeply flawed, grotesque characters for greater narrative range and more opportunities to highlight unpleasant aspects of Southern culture, without being too literal or appearing to be overly moralistic. Tennessee Williams described Southern Gothic as a style that captured "an intuition, of an underlying dreadfulness in modern experience "

William Faulkner (1897 – 1962) Known for a unique, stream-of-consciousness writing style awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 known to be a reclusive and private man, who did not appreciate the attentions he received from fans. In his later years, publicly spoke out against the segregation of blacks and whites.

a person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow. mimicking the flow of a character’s thoughts and sensations to convey the subjective nature of experience

Flannery O’Connor ( ) Works reveal a rich and layered imagination, although she was highly reclusive Raised an only child in a deeply religious Roman Catholic family She said that "anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to called realistic.“ She was never married, and was an invalid for much of her life due to her lupus.

Eudora Welty lived her life in Jackson, Mississippi and became famous for her stories from the heart of the American South Welty never married and lived nearly her whole life in the family home in which she grew up

Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) Considered by many to be the leading dramatist of the period His father was a violent, aggressive traveling salesman; his mother, the high‐minded, puritanical daughter of a clergyman; his elder sister, a young woman beset by mental problems that eventually led to her being institutionalized. His family thus provided him with the seeds for many of his characters Williams's strengths in playwriting were in his vivid characterizations and glistening dialogue. His subject matter was sometimes crude or brutal, but his writing remained elegant and poetic. Wrote A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE