LECTURE 1 Modern Fiction

Ms. Tehreem Wali

MODERNITY/MODERNISM/ Understanding the
MODERNISATION Difference
MODERNITY
 Refers to the condition or quality of being modern (contemporary, upgraded)
 Departure from something old
 Began in the middle of 18th century
 Reasons for modernity:
 Secularisation – loss of faith in religion and God
– answers through reasoning (science as the new god)
 Concept of progress – teleological progression towards betterment
 Individualism – intrinsic value of human experience
 Data accessibility – easy transmission of knowledge
MODERNISM
 A movement in the history of art
 Collection of movements focusing on a break from past/tradition
 New forms of expression
 Continuous search for subjective forms
 In past: art was a form of tribute to God/Deity/King
 Form/expression was not focused

Modernisation: The trajectory of moving from pre-modern to modern era

SUB-MOVEMENTS OF
MODERNISM
a. Cubism – different views(angles) of subjects together in the same picture
b. Expressionism – expression of feelings aroused by an event rather than the
event itself
c. Impressionism – impression of events and object as they appear to the
onlooker instead of clarity of what is out there
d. Imagism – resonance of concrete images drawn in precise, colloquial
language rather than traditional poetic diction and meter
e. Dadaism – destroy traditional values in art and to create a new art that
could reflect the modern world
DADAISM | CUBISM | EXPRESSIONISM
MODERN FICTION
(CHARACTERISTICS)

a. Focus on inner self and consciousness (individualism)

b. Experimentation with form (a collage of past and present, tradition and
modernity)
c. Absurdity
a. Senselessness of human experiences – especially World Wars
b. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka – perfect example

d. Symbolism (less explanations)

e. Chaos