Modernism
The Alienation of Self
Historical events affecting Modernism
• World War I (1914-1918)
– 10 million soldiers and nearly as many citizens died in
conflict
– The feeling that civilization, as they knew it, was
destroyed
– Signaled the end of idealism
Historical events
affecting Modernism
• People had more money and
were focused on new ways to
have fun.
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Radio and jazz
Cars
Nightclubs and speakeasies
Movies
• Due to prohibition, political
corruption was widespread.
– Gangsters flourished.
– Americans grew more
distrustful of foreigners.
Literary Modernism
• Direct response to
social and cultural
changes
– Disillusioned by war,
disgusted by the
materialism of the age
– Searched for different
literary forms to express
what they understood as
the modern awareness
Literary Modernism
• Writers felt that
individuals, especially
artists, were becoming
increasingly threatened
by and isolated from
main stream society.
– Characters in modern
literature were
alienated–introverted,
indifferent, hurt by
unidentified forces.
Literary Modernism
• Writers experimented with
writing techniques.
– Stream-of-consciousness:
writing random, winding
patterns of thinking
– Fragmentation: stories
without a beginning and/or
an ending.
• Poets used fragmentation by
composing fragments of
images, dreams, dialogue, etc.
– Imagism: poetry that tries to
convey feelings through
images instead of direct
statement.
Literary Modernism
• Writers deliberately
leave out a narrative
voice to guide the
reader or explain
details.
– The reader has to
figure out what is
going on in the story or
poem and what the
character is feeling or
thinking.
To Summarize…
• Literary Modernism is:
– A rejection of traditional themes and subject matter.
– A focus on alienated individuals rather than heroes
who stood for the values of society.
– Frequent themes of temporariness and change.
– The use of understatement and irony to reveal
important emotions and ideals.
Details given by writer
What must be
inferred
Comparison
• A comparison between Hemingway and Willa
Cather can help you see the difference
between a modernist work and a more
traditionally structured one.
Willa Cather, “A Wagner Matinee”
I owed this woman most of the good that ever
came my way in my boyhood and had a reverential
affection for her. During the years when I was riding
herd for my uncle, my aunt, after cooking three
meals…and putting six children to bed, would often
stand until midnight at her ironing board with me at
the kitchen table beside her, hearing me recite
Latin…gently shaking me when my drowsy head
sank down over the page.
What details explain Aunt Georgiana’s character
and the narrator’s feelings about her?
Ernest Hemingway, “The End of Something”
The one-story bunk houses, the eatinghouse, the company store, the mill offices, and
the big mill itself stood deserted in the acres of
sawdust that covered the swampy meadow by
the shore of the bay.
Ten years later, there was nothing of the
mill left showing through the swampy second
growth as Nick and Marjorie rowed along the
shore.
What might be the connection between the
ruined mill and Nick and Marjorie?
Identify why these examples fit into the modernist movement.
MORE MODERNISM EXAMPLES
IN A STATION OF THE METRO
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
-Ezra Pound (1913)
Why does this poem fit in to modernism?
What contrasts is the poem conveying? (Look past
the literal words and into the deeper meaning)
FIRST FIG
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends–
It gives a lovely light.
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
Why does this poem fit in to modernism?
What attitude towards life does the poem express?
“The further you go in writing, the more
alone you are.”
-Ernest Hemingway
from an interview
What do you think Hemingway meant by
this quote?
“You are all a lost generation.”
-Gertrude Stein
spoken to Ernest Hemingway
Why do you think this is true for those who
came of age during and after World War I?