The Moderns
1900-1950
WWI 1914-1918:
A time of…
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Great change
Increased cynicism
Questioning of authority
Loss of innocence
Disillusionment with tradition
The American Dream:
3 Central Ideas
1. America seen as a “new Eden”
2. Optimism, opportunity, and
abundance
3. Ultimate triumph of the individual
Crack in the World
 WWI and economic crash--damaged
ideals of American dream
 American literature shifting away from
New England
 New intellectual trends: Marxism,
psychoanalysis (Freud)
Shifts in Literature
 Stream of consciousness writing
 Examination of subconscious mind
 Questioning of free will
The Jazz Age: Here and
Abroad
1919: prohibition
Bootleggers and the speakeasy
Flappers, jazz, gangsters
“Roaring Twenties” Fitzgerald as
spokesman
 1920 women right to vote
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Expatriates
 Many writers moving abroad: cheaper,
more exotic, more open
Grace Under Pressure
 New kind of American hero
 Ernest Hemingway: influenced literary
styles--plain, bare bones of truth and
new hero
 Hemingway hero: tough, courageous,
competitor, shows grace under
pressure--and, disillusioned
Modernist Poetry
 Am.poetry went into decline after
Whitman and Dickinson died.
 After 1910, poets began to explore
artistic life of Europe.
 Influenced by artists like Matisse and
Picasso--exploring new ways to rep.
reality
Symbolism
Taking world of “appearances” and
violently rearranging to create more
truthful representation
Symbolism
 Wanting to get rid of national,
religious, and psych.symbols--thought
they were overused
 Instead, wanted to focus on the
emotional effects that objects can
suggest
Imagism
 Concentration on the pure image to
carry the poem’s emotion
 Desire to get rid of artificial, pretty poetry in
exchange for the “raw power” of the image
Poetry in New England and
Midwest
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Some rejected “modernist” trends
Some stayed here
Plain, American speech--regional
American heartland, rougher stanzas,
looser lines (ie, Spoon River Anthology)
Harlem Renaissance
 African American culture found
expression in poetry
 Focus on unique contributions of
African Americans
 Based in rhythms of jazz and spirituals
 Lyrics known as the blues; diction
based on street talk
Poetic Voices of West and
South
 Poetry of the West became the
inspiration of the later “beat poets”-some conventional and some
experimentation
 Voice of the South subtle, graceful,
and polished
American Dream: Revised
 Moderns not “optimistic” like Emerson,
but still saw importance of selfreliance and America as new Eden
 Ultimately experimenting boldly with
style and subject matter
 Seeking answers to--who are we?
Where are we going? What is our
purpose?