modernism

An introduction
What is Modernism
• Modernism is a literary age. That started from the early 1900s of
World War Two and has a rebellious style of writing against the
traditions of the 19th century.
• Modernism is marked with a rapid change of lives and thoughts of
people of the West after World War One and industrial revolution.
• Modernism inspired every aspect of life like philosophy, art, science,
architecture, literature, social values, religious ideas etc.
A few Features of Modernism
• Rejected religious and conventional values of society.
• Practiced innovation and experimentation in subjects, themes, writing
forms, new ways and arts etc as the modern artists experimented new
shapes, techniques and schemes.
• The ideas and ways of life became more progressive.
• Modernism is influenced by World War 1 and industrialization.
Moreover, modernism rejected the romantic ideals of emotions and
preferred intellect.
• Ezra Pound’s phrase “Make it new” gives and explains the
characteristic feature of modernism.
What is Modern Novel
• Modern Novel is the novel written in the modern age which is from
late 19th century till the mid of the 20th century(when wars and
industrialization threw changes to the lives of the individuals.) and it
contains all the features of modernism.
• Novelists reacted to the change of modernism in different ways and
that became their style.
Famous Modern Novelists
D.H. Lawrence
Henry James
Aldous Huxley
James Joyce
Virginia Woolf
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Conrad
William Golding
E.M. Forster, etc.
Characteristics of Modern Novels
• Novels about love and romance are written in the modern era. Mostly
the love life of a war soldier and his lover are dealt with emotion. For
example “A Farewell to Arms.”
• Straightforwardness and frankness in sexual matters is one of the key
features of modern novels for example in the novels of DH Lawrence.
• Words had created uncertainty among the people of the age. It
brought secularism and intellectual freedom to their thoughts. For
example “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.”
• Modern novels are realistic. A modern novelist creates a real picture of his
inner feelings and outer society.
• Stream of Consciousness (interior monologue)is the emblem of modernism. It
is a style of narration in which the unbroken flow of thoughts of a narrator are
described. Several novels of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner
employed this technique.
• Modern novelists and poets have employed new ideas in their works. They
have experimented with new styles and different storytelling
(experimentations). They used nonlinear plots, narration, absurdity etc.
• Alienation, absurdity, existentialism, loss and despair, capitalism, Marxism,
war, colonialism and individualism are the major themes of the modern
novels.
•
• Rise of industrialization, capitalism and the labour class and it’s a struggle
developed Marxism in the modern novels. For example Joseph Conrad’s “Heart
of Darkness”.
• Formalism developed against romanticism in the early 20th century. Formalism is
the interpretation of a text without bringing importance to its cultural,
autobiographical, and historical contexts.
• Individualism is the worth of an individual and their independence and
interests. It also liberates one from cultural, religious and political authority. For
example “The Fountain Head” by Ayn Rand.
• Absurdity is the feeling of purposelessness and meaninglessness of an individual
or character in life. Albert Camus is well known for his absurdism in his works.
His novels “The Stranger”, “The Myth of Sisyphus” are famous for absurdity.
• Novels of science, fiction, political conspiracies, and dystopia were started. For
example “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley.
• Modern novels are full of classical allusions. There is the indication of Greek, Latin
mythologies or Biblical allusions, etc.
• Scores of war and Holocaust novels were written in the modern era. Ernest
Hemingway has written his novels about World War 1.
• Modern novels are complex. There are complicated plots, climax and characters’
insights.
• Modern novels are somehow written with a pessimistic and bleak tone. There is a
criticism. The writer has criticized modern values and civilizations. And there is a kind
of hopelessness in their tones.
• There are psychoanalytic interpretations of several modern novels, like several novels
of DH Lawrence. This psychoanalytic theory was proposed by Sigmund Freud.
• Characters’ psychology has a dominant role in modern novels. A characters’ psychic
condition determines the direction of a modern novel. Like the novels of Virginia
Woolf and James Joyce are important in this regard.
• Modern novels discuss modern issues. Loneliness, capitalism, individualism, politics,
war and feminism etc.