Lost Generation

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The phrase “Lost Generation” refers to a group of prolific writers in the

Post-World war era. The term was coined was Gertrude Stein to describe the

intellectuals, poets, artists, and novelists that rejected the values of Post-

World War I America and relocated to Paris to live a bohemian lifestyle in

1920s. This group included other literary stalwarts like Ezra Pound F. Scott

Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos and T.S. Eliot.

Literally, it is the generation of people born between 1883 and 1900

The “Lost Generation” writers were skeptical about traditional forms of

literature and art and welcomed new forms. They were also generally

disillusioned by the large number of lives lost in the Great War. Out of

disenchantment, the lost generation of USA, rejected many social norms

related to appropriate behaviour, morality, and gender roles.

In their quest to find meaning in life (after the great destruction of war), the

“Lost Generation” writers produced numerous classic pieces of literature.

So, the term, "The Lost Generation" comes down to a group of disgruntled but

talented expatriate writers who escaped Conservatism, Puritanism, and

Prohibition in America by living colorfully abroad in Paris, France.

Although Gertrude Stein is credited with coining the term, but it was

E. Hemingway who popularised it and used it as an epigraph in his

novel The Sun Also Rises published in 1926.

World War I and Lost Generation:

World War I, originally called the Great War, resulted in more than nine

million deaths. The official starting point was the assassination of the heir

to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

However, this was simply the spark that lit a tinder keg of overbuilt armies,

imperial tensions, and complex alliances creating two opposing political

forces in Europe: the Allies and the Central Powers.

In the World War I, hundreds and thousands of American soldiers gave up

their lives, those who survived it had been brutally injured, some lost

limbs, some lost hands, and some lost legs in the ravages of war. The world

war left a horrible imprint on many American young minds that watched the

circus of war helplessly and became averse to the notion of blood, violence

and war. Such a huge and horrific loss, Americans believed, paralyzed the

country for many years to come.

The generation grew up in this critical period and turned cynical and

disillusioned about of the Victorian notions of morality and manners of

their elders and the systems which could not do much to stop USA from
descending itself into a terrible war. Having seen pointless deaths on such

a huge scale, many lost faith in traditional values like courage, patriotism,

and masculinity. Some in turn became aimless, reckless, and focused on

material wealth, unable to believe in abstract ideals.

The Lost Generation felt betrayed by their leaders, their culture, and their

institutions. They asked themselves “How could all these deaths and

destruction have been allowed to happen?” They felt helpless, and lost.

They despaired for the future. Once they had trust, now they did not. It

appeared that Good had lost the battle against Evil.

The generation was “lost” in the sense that its inherited values were no longer

relevant in the post-war world and because of its spiritual alienation from

America, the place that seemed to the people to be hopelessly provincial,

materialistic, and emotionally barren.

 Lost Generation Writers:

- Uprooted and torn away from any tradition.

- First fled to cities such as Chicago and San Francisco; then to

Paris, London, Madrid, Barcelona, and Rome (in particular,

Montparnasse).

- Displeased with American social values, sexual and aesthetic

conventions, and established morality.

 - It had lost attachment to any region, because it tried to live in

permanent exile.

- It rejected all the traditional values, but yet they did not create

new ones,

- They lost all the values, but also illusions, hopes for a bright

future, real feelings, and certainties,

- They also lost God. Loss of faith in religion and society.

- Cynical, disdainful of the Victorian notions of morality and

propriety of their elders.

- Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the American

Dream

- Emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form, reflecting

the fragmentation of society

- Unreliable narrators and fractured stories

- All pioneered new ways of writing, rebelling against the

traditional Victorian literary style

Lost Generation Writers

Paris:

Between 1921 and 1924, the number of Americans in Paris grew from 6,000

to 30,000. Paris was the prime city in which the “bohemian” Lost Generation

chose to wander and create a vast body of Literature which came to be

regarded as a Lost Generation Movement in American Literature.

Montparnasse:

Montparnasse served as the heart of artistic creativity and intellect in

Paris after the war.

Contained many cheap studios, apartments, and was also an area filled

with important cafes (Le Dome, La Closerie des Lilas, La Rotonde, and Le

Select) and other nightlife.

Jean Cocteau: “Poverty is a luxury when living in Montparnasse.” All of the

Lost Generation writers found themselves here at one time or another.

Major Themes:

The choice of the themes like self-exile, indulgence, spiritual alienation and

moral degradation throws ample light on the tendency of these writers. For

example, F. Scott Fitzgerald has nicely exhibited how the young generation of

the time tried to cover up the overall sense of the depression and frustration by

feigning to have lost in Jazz in his work, This Side of Paradise.

The similar theme of illusory and deceptive presence of happiness in the

lives of his characters is depicted by Fitzgerald in his masterpiece, The

Great Gatsby.

Another writer of this generation, Ernest Hemingway, is known for his

introducing the technique of omission. He believed that omission of some

information can sometimes strengthen the plot of the novel. This

technique is imitated by many writers afterwards. Even Hemingway replaced

the florid/ flamboyant prose of the Victorian era with a lean, clear prose

based on action.

One of the themes that commonly observed in the authors' works is decadence

and the frivolous lifestyle of the wealthy section of American Society.

Another theme commonly found in the works of these authors was the death

of the American dream, which is exhibited throughout many of their

novels. It is particularly prominent in The Great Gatsby, in which the

character Nick Carraway comes to realize the corruption that surrounds him.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

He dropped himself out of Princeton University in 1917 to fight in WWI and

was stationed in Alabama, but the war ended before he was shipped out. This

Side of Paradise was a huge success, defining the “Flapper Generation.”

He also wrote The Beautiful and the Damned and The Great Gatsby.

Was one of the most popular and accomplished writers of the movement and

he never assumed full expatriate status like the others. He and his wife Zelda

were normally found strolling around the streets of Paris expressing their

"loose and lavish" lifestyle.

John Dos Passos

He was born in Chicago, contributed to World War I as an ambulance driver for

France. The son of a wealthy Chicago businessman; he traveled the world in

1907 with his private tutor.

He travelled to France in July of 1917 to operate a volunteer ambulance.

His first novel, One Man‟s Initiation: 1917, was published in 1920.

Grew into an artist as well, painting familiar landscapes such as the

Montparnasse Quarter. He

was interested in Socialism, and wrote many books glorifying Marxist

theory. His most lasting work is the U.S.A. trilogy.

Ezra Pound:

He was originally from Idaho, spent most of his childhood traveling around

Europe; however, he was too old to participate in World War I. While in Paris

he worked as a journalist for a poetry magazine. He wrote many poems while

taking up occupancy in Paris. His poetry evolved due to the association with

James Joyce, H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) and Ernest Hemingway. It was not just

Paris but Chinese and Japanese poetry provided him with interesting touches

to his work. In 1920 his novel Umbra was published.

Gertrude Stein

She originally coined the phrase “The Lost Generation.” She Moved to

Montparnasse in 1902 with her brother Leo. She befriended painters such as

Matisse and Picasso.

In the 1920s, her salon attracted many members of the Lost Generation.

She wrote complicated “Cubist literature,” such as Tender Buttons. “Rose is a

rose is a rose is a rose.” She was a borderline fascist and supporter of the

Vichy regime.

Ernest Hemingway

He was born in 1899 in Illinois. He was badly injured in the Red Cross

Ambulance Corp in Italy--used this experience as the basis for A Farewell to

Arms.

He became a foreign correspondent in Paris for the Toronto Star.

Hemingway was frequently seen in a café drinking with writers such as Pound

and Fitzgerald. He wrote with a very brief and to-the-point style. He

eventually committed suicide in 1961. He became the most emblematic of the

Lost Generation. His first major novel was The Sun Also Rises.

H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)

H.D. was a Pennsylvanian native decided to spend one summer in Europe

but remained for the remainder of her life. She was welcomed and inspired

by writers like Ezra Pound. For the early twentieth century H.D. wrote many
feminist pieces that spoke to women at the time. Her works

include Trilogy, Sea Garden and Helen in Egypt.

Thomas Sterns Eliot

He was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, he left to be educated at Oxford, live in

Germany, and settle in Britain.

He spent a great deal of time in Montparnasse in the 1920‟s. He was the

undisputed leader in American (although often classified as English) poetry.

Notable works include “The Waste Land” and “Four Quartets,” considered by

Eliot to be his masterpieces.

Summing up:

The literary works created by the members of the „Lost Generation‟ focus

upon the current lifestyles of the American people. Such kind of treatment of

the men and their manners was quite a new phenomenon in the literature of

the time. Naturally, it had a long-lasting influence on the future generations

of the writers and their works.

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