The Modernist Period and English Literature

Literary modernism was a reaction against realism, which was developed to depict real rural life (Campbell, 2017). As people began to relocate to city areas, many writers and artist took to redefining the meaning of a realistic life. It was believed that one way of life no longer fit for everyone and modernism introduced literature and art that began to question and show various perspectives of life. Peter Childs explains that “modernist writing “plunges” the reader into a confusing and difficult mental landscape which cannot be immediately understood…” (Childs 15). Uncommon poetry and prose stemmed from this modernist development. A popular one being Nella Larsen’s Passing, which encompasses two African American women who are particularly fair skinned and can both “pass” a white. The novel follows the troubles faced when denying one’s race and embracing it during the early twentieth century. Passing embraces the modernist ideas provided by Peter Childs by revealing the uncertain landscape of life through identity, sexuality, and family of mixed women and challenges it through the style of prose.

British literature has been a controversial subject for a very long time throughout history. The main topics of its importance or there lack is one of the most significant debates in today's modern age. American studies have to this day been about British literature, but is it reasonable that we should study it? Not only is there a big debate about British literature being taught in America, but more explicitly being taught in high school. Many literary scholars think that reasons of why or why not coincide with the two. More scholars lean to the opinion that British literature should not be taught in high school. Furthermore, educators justify their beliefs, but also give practical, logical, and useful ideology that supports the theory

1. Art has evolved over the last century moving from Modernism to Postmodernism. Modernism 's birth is somewhat controversial but our text puts it at 1910. Paul Cezanne, who was closely tied with Cubism, has been credited as one of the fathers of Modernism. A lot was changing during this period which produced a slew of new styles such as, Post Impressionism, Symbolism, and Surrealism to name a few. Modernism thrived from the early 20th century until the period denoted by World War II at which point it fell out of favor. Modernism was characterized by a trust in science/rationalism, celebrating change brought on by the industrial revolution, and a move away from magic and religion. This began to change after World War II when artists began to question how could such a terrible thing could have happened. A new style of art formed which was called Postmodernism, which is believed to have taken hold in the 1980s, where artists rejected science/rationalism, questioned authority, were critical of progress, examined moral codes, and were skeptical. This new style is better thought of as strategy for making art since it appears in many forms using a wide variety of materials and techniques. It has been described as, “creating visually interesting, messy, sometimes contrary, and often political images that mock the rules of Modern art.” (Stokstad & Cothren 2011) They are like modern day djs taking material from multiple sources and combining them in a unique way to

Realism and Modernism are broad categories that cannot be taken explicitly; whereas Realism is concerned with the realistic portrayal of the characters, the universal morality of the story and the strict adherence to literary form, Modernism is an attempt to break free from Realist literature and not be bound by the same rules and traditions. It is intended to shock the reader, as T.S. Elliot says, “to startle and disturb the public” (Companion 3). Modern authors were living in a time of crisis during revolutions and wars where there was no stability; the institutions and Christian faith they were raised in did not provide answers so they searched for meaning elsewhere, like James Joyce, or questioned if there was any meaning at all, like Samuel Beckett. These crises are reflected in the Modern novel through various methods which attempt to present a realistic picture of a chaotic world. Some authors employed elements of Realism, like Hemingway, but in modernist writing there is always more perspicacity beneath the surface, as Michael Bell asserts, “Several of the greatest works of modernist literature are characterized by such a double awareness. They use realist representation, indeed they often use it consummately, yet within an X-ray awareness of its constructed, or purely human character” (Companion 10). Applying Bell’s X-ray awareness to the Modern novel reveals that one of the most important facets of traditional literature is upended; the protagonist is not a

Modernism is characterized by the rejection of tradition. Creatives of the Modernist era questioned what came before, looking for fresh ways to interpret familiar subjects, rejecting historical themes while searching for a means to understand and communicate the present (Medina 1995). Furthermore, Belting (2003, 17) states Modernism embraced “all the crises and schisms of the modern world”. The key points of this paper will be ascertained through the evaluation of four European Modernist artworks produced between 1860 and 1935. These artworks include La Montagne Saint Victoire by Paul Cézanne displaying angular lines, color modulation, and geometricized forms; a classic example of Divisionism and Pointillism by Georges Seurat - Sunday

American and British literature shifted sharply due to World War One, leaving both with a pessemistic outlook of their present and future. The shift is now called the modernistic movement. Modernism is categorized by it’s rejection of traditional styles and themes of literature and bold experiences. The modernistic movement commenced during the early 20th century; however various historians believe the entrance of the United Sates in World War One jumpstarted it’s imfomous and distinctive characteristics.

Modernism was a prevalent movement and developed an era in the twentieth century that shaped the coming decades and Western ideas. Stemming from World War I, its culture, art and philosophy reveals the mindset of modernity and how the historical events of that time influenced life and society. T.S. Eliot was a part of the literary and artistic movement called Modernism, which can be seen best in his poem “The Waste Land.” The concept of the wasteland was a powerful one to his generation. His poem depicts an image of the modern world through the perspective of “the common man” finding himself hopeless and confused about the condition of society. The poem paints a picture of a disjointed and desolate world through apparent confusion and chaos that that is achieved through fragments and allusions. “The Waste Land” demonstrates the present-day wasteland as a metaphor of modern Europe to depict the loss of culture and history that was suffered due to the war.

Modernism, in the arts refers to a period of time from the late 19th century to mid 20th century where artists challenged traditional art by experimenting with new forms of expression. Current materials, approaches and techniques were utilised in order to create artworks that better reflected modern society as an act of rebellion towards old-fashioned styles. One artist that influenced the art world with her unique and dynamic technique was Grace Cossington-Smith, born  on the 20th April 1892, in Neutral Bay, she was an Australian painter who rejected interest in depicting the observed world, rather looking into her memories and emotions in order to connect the viewer and her work on a deeper level. Her fascination with light and colour and her earning interest in what she saw around her developed throughout the many phases of her work, accumulated in the radiant interiors she painted in the 1950s and 1960s.  Often giving a glimpse of the ordinary suburban home, Smith’s subjects varied from significant global events to characteristically Australian scenes. Alison Rehfisch was another Australian modernist still life painter whose practice flourished between the wars. Born on the 23rd January 1900 at Woollahra, she was influenced variously by the works of Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall and Augustus John, her interest in design, colour and form is evident in the many still life, landscape and flower paintings she produced during her career. She used thinly applied colours and

Modernist’s rejection of conventional Victorian realism and the call to ‘make it new’ were responses to what an emerging, lost generation saw as the strangeness and urgency of the new twentieth century. And what newness it was! - new machines, new industrialisation, new capitalism, in short; a whole new world. Society felt as if it has ‘disembarked from the quaint old horse and buggy and re-embarked on the hurtling steam train of progress’ stated literary historian Michael Parker. This may have been exhilarating but it was also frightening, unnerving and alienating. The advent of such upheavals like the Great Depression and First World War uprooted the world from its sense of universal order and submerged societies into a sense of chaos and disillusion. To add to this collective disillusionment, people lost faith in traditional values like courage and masculinity and chivalric notions of patriotism.

In 1928 the Congrès International d 'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) was formed in order to unify and define certain manifestos of how modernism would be translated to architecture, urbanism, and habitat. CIAM sought to organize the ideas of modern architecture and formalize these thoughts to shape political, economic, and ecological theories. A series of conferences was held with leading architects, theorists, and planners to create and define a certain aesthetic and philosophy for architectural and urbanistic ideals.

I can clearly say that we live a postmodern society overshadows modern. The realization that postmodernism is label as a board movement that start in the mid- to late 20 centuries. But let’s first define what the difference between the two topics. Postmodernism consists of philosophy, the arts, architecture, and criticism. While modernism is a modern character or quality of thought, expression, or technique. Sit back and relax while I take you on a journey about my argument on postmodernism. Postmodernism, on the hand, is a movement that took place during the late 20 centuries. It took place right after World War II, but it gained more attention in the the 1960. We can tell about a postmodernist society through arts, music, and political views. They question the rationally of modernism society. It’s been told that their no connection between the past and the present and past events are irrelevant in the present. We can tell that postmodernism is a dogma response to modernism. It’s the rejection of traditional ideas. Plus, how we can make a feel of it. In a postmodernism we can generally tell the difference between religion and science. Postmodernism is constructed by a political, social, and historical perceptions. Therefore, their nothing can be competently explained by the sorted of any grand theories, ideas, or narratives. It’s always self-referential and ironic. Postmodernism is the way we used to critique certain things work or the way certain things are. Postmodern

Modernism is very troublesome to define with clarity because of the fact that the term revolves around various genres of movements be it artistic or philosophical. Nonetheless, there are some primary beliefs of the Modernist genres that appeal in someway or the other to the various movements and also the writers.

the most aggressively modern of these poets, made "Make it new!" his battle cry. In London Pound encountered and encouraged his fellow expatriate Eliot, who wrote what is arguably the most

The modernist movement in Literature came about in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as authors began to consciously break from traditional writing styles and experiment with new methods of storytelling. These authors drew their inspiration from the real world and their own experiences. Every aspect of the world has its own influence from historical events to developments in psychological theory. The authors of the modernist era, such as William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Elliot, and James Joyce, experimented heavily with established laws of language and structure by modifying the narration of the story and breaking the plot into pieces for the reader to put together. In a way, the authors were rebelling against the old views of how stories were supposed to be told. Some of the most complicated pieces of fiction and poetry came out of the modernist era. The most prominent characteristics of the modernist movement in literature were the results of a culmination of the types of thought and ideas that defined the early twentieth century in the United States and Europe. The events of the world which modernist authors experienced in their time, most notably the First World War in conjunction with emerging ideas from different spheres of study such as psychology and art led to the creation of new forms of narration and stories that broke the rules of traditional writing and challenged the previous eras of literature.

The history and culture of English literature are profound in the literary writings from the beginning of the Periods of Old English, Middle English, Elizabethan, Romantic, and the Modern. All of these periods are named purposely by intellectual, political movements, historical events, and artistic styles that are evident in the literary writings during their respective timeframes. As an example, it is during the Old English Period (Anglo – Saxon) where the English language is born. The epic poem Beowulf is for certain the most influential literary work of this period and possess national epic status in England. The poem Beowulf draws on Christianity to change the pre-conversion myth by elucidating the many things that cannot be explained by science or the laws of nature, including things characteristic of or relating to ghosts, gods, or things beyond nature, turning into a lesson on faith. Adversely, it is the Middle English period where the influence of Norman language (drawn from the French Romance language), culture and literature take shape. This period starts with the Norman invasion in 1066, where we learn of a woman in the federal aristocracy, marriage viewed as a political act and the introduction of courtly love.