Modernism

Modernism is a literary and cultural international movement of the early 20th century. It reflects a sense
of cultural crisis, by challenging established norms. It is marked by experimentation, particularly
manipulation of form, and by highlighting the relativity of knowledge.

Modernism is an umbrella term that covers many areas that particularly applies to all the creative art,
music, literature and architecture.

Timeline There is no exact date about the beginning of this movement. It is supposed to start from the
end of nineteenth century and beginning of twentieth century and continued up to the end of world warII.

Modernism is an age of newness, Avante Garde tendencies, creativity, rejection of religion and old
tradition, scientific technologies and freedom of expression in all spheres of literature. Hence, the
Artists, poets, fictionists or authors of this age tend to free themselves from all kinds of restrictions in
expression of their poetic truth.

Modernism in literature is an act of rebellion against the traditional norms on the writers' part.

General Features

• Loss of a sense of tradition

• Increasing dominance of technology [telephony, electricity, aviation etc.]
• Breaking away from old literary conventions of previous age

According to Faulkner Peter, modernism means all the different trends of art that appeared in the
twentieth century.

Historical background

Two of the most significant thinkers of the period were, in biology, Charles Darwin, and in political
science, Karl Marx. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection undermined the religious certainty
of the general public, and the sense of human uniqueness of the intelligentsia. ⦁ Marxist ideas of
socialism and class struggle also influenced Modernist Literature in America.

Philosophical Background ⦁ Sigmund Freud's work encouraged self analysis of the conscious and
unconscious self. This self reflection influenced many of the works of the Modernist Period. . Friedrich
Nietzsche promoted ideas such as "God is dead", "existence precedes essence" and existentialism.
Nietzsche's ideas included economic and psychological determinism.

Marx's Marxism, Freud's Determinism and Darwin’s Theory of Evolution were three of the key ideologies
emerging in the twentieth century. There were a great number of people who were influenced by these
three theories of Marx, Darwin and Freud. Under the impact of these ideologies and figures, some people
became doubtful of religion and some others even became secular; because they began thinking of
human freedom and dignity

1. World War I (1914–1918): The devastation and disillusionment caused by World War I
significantly impacted the cultural landscape. The war shattered traditional beliefs, leading to a
questioning of established norms and values.
 2. Industrialization and Urbanization:

Rapid industrialization and urban growth changed the fabric of society. Cities expanded, technology
advanced, and mass production became widespread. The miseries of industrial urbanism, and the
possibilities created by scientific examination of subjects, brought changes that would shake a
European civilization.

Artists and writers responded to these shifts by seeking new forms of expression.

3. Intellectual and Scientific Advances:

Modernists were influenced by developments in psychology, philosophy, and political theory. Sigmund
Freud’s theories on the human psyche, for example, challenged conventional understanding. Albert
Einstein’s theory of relativity revolutionized scientific thought.

Fragmentation and Experimentation: Modernist writers broke free of old forms and techniques. Poets
abandoned traditional rhyme schemes and wrote in free verse. Novelists defied all expectations. Writers
mixed images from the past with modern languages and themes, creating a collage of styles. Authors like
William Faulkner and Marcel Proust embraced fragmented narratives to convey the complexity of human
experience. Authors James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, along with poets T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, are well
known.

Mythology The overwhelming influence of mythology is attracting the attention of several modernists
(Earle 144). They think that mythology has a capability of revealing the hidden meaning of the modern
world. They also think that mythology vitalizes the awareness of the outside time, and is behind self-
estrangement, linear time of modernity. Many modern literary figures were involved in mythology for
instance, Picasso, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, W.B. and Le Corbusier (Linehan, 19

High Modernism

• High modernism emerged after World War I and continued until approximately 1930. Architects,
artists, and intellectuals during this period exhibited a strong belief in scientific and technological
progress.

Modernism reached its peak and matured in 1922 when Eliot wrote the "The Waste Land" and Joyce’s
Ulysses. Proust, Woolf, Musil and Lawrence are the novelists and Yeats, Rilke, Pound, Crane are poets,
who are also in the mature period of modernism, called "high modernism". At the same time, the 1920s
were known as the ‘Jazz Age’, and the public showed considerable enthusiasm for cars, air travel, the
telephone, and other technological advances.

Edwardian period 1900 to 1910

Georgian period 1910 to 1920

modernism 1920 to 1950

Avante Garde Movements

 In the arts and in literature, the term avant-garde (advance guard and vanguard) identifies an
experimental genre, or work of art, and the artist who created it; which usually is aesthetically innovative,
whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable to the artistic establishment of the time. Modernist
writers tended to see themselves as an avant-garde, disengaged from bourgeois values, and disturbed
their read with complex and new forms. This set modernists apart from 19th century artists.'

Expressionism

Expressionism was an international movement of the early 20 th century, and it was present not only in art
but in architecture, theatre, dance and literature tool. It emerged in Germany and Austria in early
twentieth century and its roots are found the works like Edward Munch scream as represented here. The
bold colors Munch used helped to make the scene more extreme. It came as a reaction to Realism and
Naturalism.

Expressionists aimed to show true emotions in their works, a life filled with anxiety and alienation
present in the modern world. They used bold colors and abstract forms to share their emotions
thoroughly. They aimed to show emotional intensity and focused on the inner psychological world
instead of the outside world.

Two imp groups in this movement are

1. The blue rider 2. The Bridge [1905] Both originated in Germany

Expressionist school lay in the works of Edward Munch, Oscar Kokoska, Vincent van Gogh and James
Ensar. Murder, the hope of women

Cubism[ multiple perpetives not single one]

Between 1907 to 1914, Spanish Painter Georges Braque and French painter Pablo Picasso introduced a
groundbreaking radical movement named Cubism . It began in France and was influenced by scientific
discoveries and technology. Objects don’t have one perspective. Paul Cezanne

Main purpose was to represent a painting with different views in one frame. The purpose was to break an
object and present it with multiple points of view and not to limit it to a single point.

Cubist started drawing object into cubes or cones. They brought different views of the subject in one
frame, resulting in paintings that appear fragmented and abstract. Figures were broken into geometric
shapes, colors were brightened and simplified, and then realigned the geometric shapes.

Two types 1. Analytical cubism normal color 2. Synthetic cubism bright color

Important Cubist Artworks:

• Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso

• Futurism
Futurism, early 20th-century artistic movement centered in Italy that emphasized the
dynamism, speed, energy, and power of the machine, and restlessness of modern life.

Origins and Manifesto:

• Italian poet Filippo Marinetti coined the term “Futurism” to reflect his goal of discarding the
art of the past and celebrating change, originality, and innovation in culture and society.
• Futurists wanted to depict visually the perception of movement, speed, and change. To
achieve this, they adopted techniques like fragmented and intersecting plane surfaces and
outlines, similar to Cubism.

Futurism and Fascism Futurist artists intended to inspire nationalist feelings among Italians by
promoting ideas of national unity, strength, and militarism.

They often displayed Fascist symbols, giving Fascist propaganda a veneer of artistic legitimacy.Marinetti
increasingly became a propagandist and active supporter of the fascist state3.

In summary, Futurism provided Fascist propaganda with artistic legitimacy, while Fascism
recognized and funded Futurists. The movement’s influence extended beyond art, impacting politics
and culture during a critical period in Italy’s history

Iconic Futurist Art:

• Three painters by Umberto Boccioni

Imagism was an experimental movement in early 20th-century English and American poetry which favored
precision of imagery and clear, sharp language.]Imagism is a part of the modern principle of condensation.
Condensation means don’t elaborate don’t describe condense everything. So that you will be able to bring a lot of
meaning to one image. The movement derived in part from the aesthetic philosophy of T. E. Hulme and involved
Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Amy Lowell, and others.

Imagist poems are like snapshot . Very simple words are used to create an image in the mind of reader. It
was a reaction against Victorian and romantic poetry. They used a lot of desrcriptive poety.

It was after Pound’s slogan ‘Make it new’, writers started writing like this. Two poems Autumn and A
city of sunset published by T E Hulme were the foundation of this movement . He is called the father
of imagism . Later on , Ezra pound adopted his style and coined the term ‘imagism’. Ezra pound
introduced ideogrammic method means, you should show abstract ideas in concrete images.

Pound’s poem titled In a Station of the Metro, embodies the central tenets of the
Imagism movement. In fourteen words, the poem constructs a clear and compelling
image that conveys an abstract emotional experience without describing it. The
apparition of these faces in crowd Petals on a wet black bough
Vorticism

The movement is a product of the great industrial revolution. The main motif of vorticism is to relate art
to industrialization. It was influenced by Cubism and Futurism. Vorticist paintings portrayed modern life
through bold lines and colors.

Vorticism is a modernist art movement that developed in 1914 in England. It was founded by the artist
and writer Wyndham Lewis. The Vorticists celebrated the energy of modern life, the imagery of the
machine age and industrial progress, with all its destructive and experimental potential. They rejected
the figurative British artistic tradition. Ezra pound was the one who introduced and gave name to this
movement named as vortex movement. Pound referred to vorticism as a point of maximum energy.

The Vorticist produced artwork that emphasized graphical artwork, geometric shape, hardness,
motion and power.

Dadaism [ Anti- war / senselessness]

Dadaism is an avant-garde art movement that emerged during the early 20th century. It originated in
1916 during World War I in Zurich, Switzerland, and lasted until the mid-1920s. Tristan Tzara coined
the term, Dada. Dadaists opposed war and were anti war , anti materialism , anti establishment , anti
nationalism. The war was seen as almost entirely pointless and avoidable, leading to disillusionment
and despair.1. It rejected all the established rules and conventions.

Tenets:

Dadaism embraced senselessness, using it as a powerful tool to challenge existing power structures.
The movement was explicitly political. By creating senseless art, Dadaist wage a war against war.
Marcel Duchamp: Known for his provocative works, including the famous “Fountain” (a porcelain
urinal). Tristan Tzara: A poet and central figure in the movement..

Surrealism is a highly experimental genre based on principles of the subconscious mind. It flourished
between WW1 and WW2. Andre Breton laid the foundation of this movement by publishing surrealist
manifesto in 1924. He saw Surrealism as a means of achieving “an absolute reality, a surreality.”
Surrealist were influenced by psychoanalysis and believed that only our unconscious brain can tell the
absolute reality.

• Surrealism grew out of the earlier Dada movement. Unlike Dada, Surrealism’s emphasis was
not on negation but on positive expression. The movement aimed to reunite conscious and
unconscious realms of experience, creating a bridge between the world of dreams and
everyday reality.

Characteristics:
 • Surrealist Painting: Surrealist artists drew inspiration from Dadaism. Salvador Dalí: Known for
iconic works like The Persistence of Memory, featuring those famous “melting clocks.”
• In surrealistic works, characters are often driven by their unconscious
minds which, of course, lead to behaviors motivated by factors unknown to
them. Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka: Kafka’s surreal and unsettling
depictions of modern life are showcased in this collection.
• Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion,
literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and
1930s.

Beginning about 1916, a large number of African Americans moved from the rural
American South and settled in the urban North and West. One of the communities where
African Americans settled during this Great Migration was Harlem, in New York, New York.
After World War I Harlem became a thriving center of African American culture. The Harlem
Renaissance (c. 1918–37) was the most influential movement in African American literary
history.

Harlem Renaissance poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas
Johnson explored the beauty and pain of black life and sought to define themselves
and their community outside of white stereotypes.
Absurdism

Absurdity is a term that refers to the contradiction between man’s desire to find meaning in his
existence and the truth of life which is considered to be meaningless. Albert Camus, the French
philosopher described absurdity of human life as; ‘The conflict between the human tendency to seek
inherent value and meaning and the human inability to find any in a purposeless, meaningless and
irrational universe.’

Albert Camus believes that life has no meaning and that nothing exists could be a source of meaning. I
don’t know whether this world has a meaning that transcends it. But I know I cannot know that
meaning and that it is impossible for me just now to know it. [The myth of Sisyphus]. And it is on this
philosophy that Beckett created his famous play ‘Waiting for Godot’. Theatre of Absurd was founded
on this philosophy.

Historical events

Death of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria, who served as the ruling monarch of Great Britain, India, and Ireland from 1837,
passed away on January 22, 1901. Her death marked the end of a 63-year reign, during which many of
her subjects knew no other monarch. Date and Time of Death: Queen Victoria died at the age of 81 on
January 22, 1901. Victoria died of a cerebral hemorrhage, which is a type of stroke.
suffragate demonstration in London 1913

In 1913, the Great Pilgrimage was a significant march in Britain organized by suffragists
campaigning nonviolently for women’s suffrage. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies
(NUWSS) orchestrated this event, where women marched to London from various locations across
England and Wales. The culmination of the pilgrimage was a rally in Hyde Park, attended by
approximately 50,000 supporters. This peaceful demonstration aimed to advocate for votes for women
and highlight the suffragists’ unwavering determination to press their claim until the vote was won
supporters1. This peaceful demonstration aimed to advocate for votes for women and highlight the
suffragists’ unwavering determination to press their claim until the vote was won 2.

Russian revolution 1917

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a pivotal period in the history of the Russian Empire. It marked
the end of the monarchy and the establishment of a socialist government. Here are the key events:

4. February Revolution (8–16 March 1917):

o Triggered by corruption, repression, and economic hardship.
o Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, leading to the formation of a provisional government.
o Soviet councils (soviets) emerged, demanding influence in the government.
5. October Revolution (7 November 1917):
o Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power.
o The Winter Palace was stormed, and the Provisional Government was overthrown.
o The Russian Civil War followed, leading to the establishment of Bolshevist Soviet
republics.
6. Impact:
o End of the Russian monarchy and dissolution of the Russian Empire.
o Creation of the Soviet Union.
o Independence for Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania12.

The Russian Revolution had far-reaching consequences, shaping the course of world history during
and after World War I.

• Great depression 1929

The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until
about 1939. It affected many countries across the world, leading to fundamental changes in
economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory. Although it originated in the
United States, its impact was felt worldwide, causing drastic declines in output, severe
unemployment, and acute deflation. The Great Depression remains one of the most significant
economic crises in modern history

Holocaust