final american modernism
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
1/44
The Birth of American
Modernism(1915-1945)
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
2/44
Important Informationhas been bolded for you
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
3/44
World War I . . . destroyed faith inprogress, but it did more than thatit
made clear to perceptive thinkers . . . that
violence prowled underneath mansapparent harmony and rationality.
--William E. Leuchtenburg, The Perils ofProsperity
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
4/44
Definition
Robert Wohl Modernism is a responseby clusters of intellectuals and artists tothe converging processes of
industrialization In Other Words
Modernism is the reaction of artists andwriters to the new society formed
because of industrialization.
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
5/44
Literary Modernism: 1915-1945
Aspects
- high degree of experimentation.- characters most often alienated people searchingunsuccessfully for meaning and love in their lives- themes pulled from real life.
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
6/44
AFTER THE GREAT WAR
The devastation of World War Ibrought about an end to the sense ofoptimism that characterized the years
leading up to the war. This more negative, or realistic, view
of the world, and the technologicaladvances, gave birth to Modernism
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
7/44
Value Differences in the Modern
World
Pre-Modern World Modern World (Early 20thCentury)
Ordered ChaoticMeaningful Futile
Optimistic Pessimistic
Stable Fluctuating
Faith Loss of faith
Morality/Values Collapse ofMorality/Values
Clear Sense of Identity Confused Sense ofIdentity and Place in the
World
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
8/44
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE
INTELLECTUAL CURRENTSWHICH INFLUENCED
MODERNISM
Philosophy and Theory:
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
9/44
Major Influences
WWI
32 countries and claimed the lives of over 20 million people
new weapons b/c of technology
Signals an end to idealism and ushered in an era marked byhedonism*, political corruption, and ruthless business practices
The Jazz Age / Roaring Twenties
the greatest, gaudiest spree in history (FSF)
Young people rebelling against past + tradition
Experimentation with fashion
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
10/44
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
11/44
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
12/44
Major Influences
Prohibition (1920-1933)
Alcohol was made illegal Bootleggers= sold alcohol anyway
Speakeasies= where alcohol was served despite prohibition
New Era for Women The right to vote (19th am.)
Flapper= an emancipated young woman who embraced newfashions and urban attitudes of the day
More women working
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.virtualstampclub.com/images/19thamend20.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.virtualstampclub.com/century3.html&usg=__78mIiolr4_KFUm5PHETjBV0Z1Kk=&h=306&w=300&sz=24&hl=en&start=10&um=1&tbnid=VurJcEmPw1wUSM:&tbnh=117&tbnw=115&prev=/images?q=19th+amendment&hl=en&safe=active&um=1http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/graphics/prohibition.jpg&imgrefurl=http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?p=568569&usg=__HqEt8mfloVXW2ECpnN6W-vDv-dY=&h=609&w=570&sz=59&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=BFBF8KbtUW63IM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=127&prev=/images?q=prohibition&hl=en&safe=active&sa=N&um=1 -
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
13/44
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
14/44
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
15/44
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
16/44
Themes of Modern Literature
Collectivism versus individualism
Disillusionment
Violence and alienation
Decadence and decay
Loss and despair
Breakdown of social norms and culturalsureties
Race and gender relations
The American Dream
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
17/44
Theme of Alienation Sense of alienation in
literature:
The character belongs to alost generation (GertrudeStein)
The character suffers from adissociation of
sensibilityseparation ofthought from feeling (T. S.Eliot)
The character has aDream deferred (LangstonHughes).
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
18/44
Valorization of the Individual Characters are heroic in the
face of a future they cant
control.
Demonstrates theuncertainty felt byindividuals living in this era.
Examples include JayGatsby in The Great Gatsby,Lt. Henry inA Farewell toArms
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
19/44
Urbanscapes
Life in the city differsfrom life on the farm;writers began toexplore city life.
Conflicts begin tocenter on society.
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
20/44
Literary Styles of Modernism
Stream of consciousnessnarration: a narrative modewhich seeks to portray an
individuals point of view bygiving the written equivalent ofthe characters thoughtprocesses, either through loose
interior monologue or inconnection to action.
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
21/44
Juxtaposition
Two images that are otherwise notcommonly brought together appear side byside or structurally close together, therebyforcing the reader to stop and reconsiderthe meaning of the text through thecontrasting images, ideas, motifs, etc.
For example, He was slouched alertly is ajuxtaposition.
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
22/44
MAJOR AUTHORS
American Literary
Modernism:
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
23/44
T.S. Eliot
The most dominantliterary figure
between the twoworld wars.
Influential poet andliterary critic.
Conceives of the
poem as an objectdemanding a fusionand concentration ofintellect, feeling, andexperience.
Major Works:
Prufrock and OtherObservations (1917),The Waste Land(1922)
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
24/44
William Faulkner
Southern Americanwriter
Many works centeron the mythicalYoknapatawphacounty
Experimental
techniques includestream-of-consciousness anddislocation ofnarrative time
Focus on issues of
sex, class, racerelations
The Sound and theFury(1929),As I LayDying (1930),Absalom, Absalom!
(1936)
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
25/44
Ernest Hemingway
Iceberg Theory ofliterature (one-eighth
above water)
Spare, tightjournalistic prosestyle
Objective, detached
point of view
Examination ofmasculinity, gender
Major works: TheSun Also Rises
(1926),A Farewell toArms (1929), ForWhom the Bell Tolls(1940)
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
26/44
Gertrude Stein
Expatriate Author
Coined the term LostGeneration
Patron of authors andartists as well asartistic innovator
Rose is a rose is arose is a rose.
Major works: ThreeLives (1909), TheMaking of Americans(1925)
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
27/44
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Focus on Jazz Ageand Great Depression
Examination ofAmerican materialism
Exploration of theAmerican dream
Major works: TheGreat Gatsby(1925),Tender is the Night(1934)
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
28/44
Ideal American Dream
Endless OpportunitiesNew Eden
ProgressLife should keep gettingbetter and better
The independent, self-reliantindividual will triumph
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
29/44
Characteristics of Modernism in American
Literature
Emphasis on bold experimentation in styleand form, reflecting the fragmentation ofsociety. ExampleThere is no resolution in A Worn Path
Rejection of traditional themes andsubjects. Loss of faith in religion andsociety.
Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith inthe American Dream ExampleNick and Gatsby from The Great Gatsby
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
30/44
Rejection of the ideal hero as infalliblein favor of a hero who is flawed anddisillusionedbut shows grace under
pressure. Interest in the inner workings of the
human mind, (stream ofconsciousness) sometimes expressedthrough new narrative techniques.
ExamplesHurston, Hemingway
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
31/44
What is Todays American Dream?
American modernist writers both echoedand challenged the American Dream.
They constituted a broader, moreresonant voice than ever before, resultingin a second American renaissance. With
all the changes, however, writers
continued to ask fundamental questionsabout the meaning and purpose of humanexistence.
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
32/44
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
33/44
F. Scott Fitzgerald1896 - 1940"Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy."
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
34/44
Summary
Wrote five novels andnumerous short storiesduring the 1920s and 1930s.
Portrayed extravagance and
carelessness of the JazzAge.
Authored The Great Gatsby,often called the greatest
American novel of the 20thcentury.
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
35/44
Pretty Southern belle whom Fitzgerald met whilestationed in Alabama
Energetic and imaginative
Turned Fitzgeralds first proposal down
Later married and moved to New York
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
36/44
Symbols of the Jazz Age
Attractive and charming
Legendary partiers Artistic ambition
Drinking and recklessness
Zeldas mental breakdown
Romance and tragedy
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
37/44
Fitzgerald in the 1930s Debt, depression, poor
health, drinking
Hollywood
Died of heart attack in1940 at 44
Zelda died in a hospitalfire in 1947
Work revived after hisdeath
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
38/44
What are the consequences of the carelessness thatresults from wealth and social power?
To what extent can a person change his/her socialstatus through the acquisition of money?
What is the importance of striving to accomplish alifelong dream?
What are the consequences of failure to accomplish alifelong dream?
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
39/44
Long Island, 1920s
Jay Gatsby young millionaire with mysterious past Gatsby throws glamorous parties for high society
Gatsby wants to reunite with Daisy, his long lostlove, who is married to millionaire Tom Buchanan
Narrated by Nick Carraway, a young stock trader wholives in a small place next to Gatsby
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
40/44
Cubism
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
41/44
Dadaism
Duchamp
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
42/44
Surrealism
Dali Magritte
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
43/44
Jackson Pollock
-
7/28/2019 Final American Modernism
44/44
Futurism
Giacomo BallaKandinsky