MODERNISM

British LiteratureMay 6, 2015

Warm Up Challenge: What is the “Human

Experience”?In your journals, create a

symbol (an abstract representation) of the human experience.

You only have 5 minutes!

MODERNISM & POSTMODERNISM

1890-1940

ModernismWriters react to confusion of current

history by revising art and literature to create a new interpretation or “vision” of the human experience.

This movement focuses on how we know what we know, not what we know.

Historical Events “The Great War” (to end all wars) Ruthless modern weapons World War II – the Holocaust Cold War Korea & Vietnam War

ABSURD

Effects on Art & Literature Racial and ethnic stereotypes are

challenged Women’s Rights are supported Cultural Ethnocentrism: “Our view of

the world is the correct one” is mitigated with travel, media and the breakdown of social classes.

“Modernism arose from a sense that the art forms of the past could not adequately capture human experience and the reality of the modern world. Influenced by breakthroughs in psychology and innovations in other art forms, modernism emphasizes subjective perceptions and uses new and experimental techniques to capture the sense of fragmentation and the uncertainty associated with modern life.”

Existentialism“Belief that a person’s physical existence precedes

his/her ‘essence’ or meaning. There are no preexisting meanings values or guidelines for human beings.”

Humanistic Existentialism asserts that this being true “each person must create his or her own meaning, or essence, in life by accepting the responsibility for informed choice and moral commitment.”

ESSENCE

EXISTENCE

WHERE IS MEANING?

Expressionism To express meaning & emotion. No direct representation of reality. Subjective Emotions > Objective

Reality

The Scream by Edward MunchThe Starry Night by Van Gogh

Futurism Enthusiasm for the age of machinery. Throw away old ways of doing things

and embrace new technologies and art forms!

Tullio Crali’s “Bombardamento Aereo”

Surrealism Fuller awareness

of the human experience

Subconscious states, dream-like

“sur-” (over, more than) and “realism”

Rene Magritte’s “Son of Man”

Modernism in Literature We will be looking at two examples of the

Modernist period: “Araby” from James Joyce’s Dubliners “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S.

Eliot Modernism is founded on the classics

that we have read this semester as they explore what it means to be human. Remember John Gardner’s Grendel? Remember Hamlet’s soliloquies about life? Remember Sir Gawain’s search for purpose?

James Joyce

James Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century.

“Araby” from James Joyce’s Dubliners

Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. They form a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.

They center on Joyce's idea of an epiphany: a moment where a character experiences a life-changing self-understanding or illumination. The initial stories in the collection are narrated by child protagonists, and as the stories continue, they deal with the lives and concerns of progressively older people. It is a collection of stories into childhood, adolescence and maturity.

“Araby” is the third short story in this collection, meant to symbolize a child’s journey into adolescence.

A boy falls in love with the sister of his friend, but fails in his quest to buy her a worthy gift from the Araby bazaar.

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26

September 1888 – 4 January 1965), was an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic, and "one of the twentieth century's major poets”.

He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to an old Yankee family. He immigrated to England in 1914 (at age 25), settling, working and marrying there. He was eventually naturalized as a British subject in 1927 at age 39, renouncing his American citizenship

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot

Published in 1915 as a poem in the Poetry magazine: Although the character Prufrock seems to be

middle-aged, Eliot wrote most of the poem when he was only twenty-two. Its now-famous opening lines, comparing the evening sky to "a patient etherised upon a table", were considered shocking and offensive.

The poem follows the conscious experience of a man, Prufrock, lamenting his physical and intellectual inertia with the recurrent theme of carnal love unattained. Critical opinion is divided as to whether the narrator leaves his residence during the course of the narration. The locations described can be interpreted either as actual physical experiences, mental recollections, or as symbolic images from the unconscious mind, as, for example, in the refrain "In the room the women come and go"

“The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot As we listen to the poem,

annotate the hard copy for imagery, symbolism, allusions, and other literary elements. What is the theme of this poem?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/173476

Small Group Reading In small groups, you will be reading

James Joyce’s “Araby” from Dubliners on pages 12-16.

Remember modernism attempted to capture existence. Not create meanings but capture what is means to live a day in the life as an individual human being.

Compare and contrast the Joyce’s story with Eliot’s poem. Both of these texts are about people’s

expectations and the harsh reality of human nature: fear, anxiety, and disappointment.

Discussion Questions for “Araby”

Why does the narrator want to go to the bazaar? Why does he arrive so late?

What doesn't he buy anything for Mangan's sister? What had the narrator expected to find at Araby?

What was the basis of his expectation? Define the narrator's feelings for Mangan's sister. To

what extent is she the cause of those feelings? What, as they say, does he see in her?

What is the role of the narrator's uncle in the story? What values and attitudes does he represent? Are they preferable to those of the narrator?

Find patterns in the story that show relevance to "light," "vision," and "beauty.”

What is the search for the Holy Grail and how is it like the story?

What is the theme of the story?

Portfolio of Wisdom British Literature Final Project Look over the assignment sheet and select five topics you are interested in exploring in your Portfolio of Wisdom.

Collect sources that discuss this topic. Remember you must use at least three different texts we have read this year (including today!).