Introduction to Modernism

LIT314
Week 2
What is Modernism?
• Complex and multifaceted.
• Modernist period: Late 19th century to Mid 20th century (WWII) (Early
1900s-1940s).
• ‘Make it new!’ – Ezra Pound – Spirit of the Modernist Age.
• Time of daring experimentation, style and aesthetics.
• Modernist writers revolted against the previous tradition of writing –
Romantic Era.
• Modernism was a sociopolitical, cultural, intellectual and philosophical
movement (Cubism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Neoclassicism, etc.).
• Advocated for radical changes in experiencing and addressing the human
condition.
4 Major Notions of Modernism
1. Rejection of conventional realism and incorporation of avant-garde
experimentation.
2. Focus on portrayal of the human mind (and its facets) as opposed to
the outside world.
3. Distinguishing ‘high brow’ and ‘low brow literature’.
4. Redefining modern identity and existence (as a direct impact of
modernity).
1. Avante-Garde
• 19th century Victorian realism
• Wrote openly about private topics; death, sex, defecation (Joyce, Lawrence)
• Consciously rejected strict and formal grammar and structural rules in writing
(Joyce’s adamant rejection of punctuation). Used unorthodox and outrageous
forms:
Eg: In a station of the metro
“The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.” – Ezra Pound
• Radical ambiguity; the belief that the human consciousness should be
portrayed unfiltered and unaltered.
• The human mind as incomprehensible; mirroring mental and emotional chaos.
2. Stream of Consciousness
• ‘Stream’ : Continuity of thought process; flow.
• Human ‘consciousness’ (encouraging active awareness):
thoughts + feelings + sensations + impressions.
• Forerunners: James Joyce, Virginia Woolf
• Unpredictability: Sharp juxtapositions, abrupt interruptions, spontaneous
interjections, jumbled narrative sequences (again a mirror to real life)
• Goal: No concrete message is waiting to be passed; belief that life has no
predestined meaning.
• Modernists simply believe in feeling and experiencing.
 3. ‘High-brow’(Elitist?) Literature
• T.S Eliot: Modern poets must be
difficult.
- The ‘impersonality’ of the poet:
‘intellectual sparring between past and
present poets’ (as opposed to Romantic
poets’ school of thought).
• Heavy use of allusion (subjectivity);
elusive riddles.
4. Redefining Modern identity
• Overwhelming impact of one’s sense of identity and one’s place in the
world: community vs. individual lifestyle (exciting yet isolating).
• Flaneur – urban wanderer
• Modernist protagonist – introspective, primarily living in one’s head,
highly subjective thoughts/expressions.
• D.H. Lawrence – Frankness (sex – primal, natural; area for humans to
rediscover their sense of self and existence in an authentic manner).
• Strong defiance, challenging the status quo.