Modern Era Literature

By Matthew Begley and Isabelle Buick

What is modernism?

Modernism is a philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the factors that shaped Modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by the horror of World War I. Modernism also rejected the certainty of Enlightenment.

Historical context

• World war I– 1 million British troops lost

• World war II– Winston Churchill leads Britain through it

• Independence– British colonies demand Independence

• Revolutions– People are beginning to question everything

• The church• Society (sexism and racism)

Periods

• In modern literature of the 20th century there are generally two time period– Modernist Literature (1900-1940)– Post-Modern literature (1960-1990)• Generally divided by World War II

Top Selling books of the 20th century

• Quotations of Chairman Mao (1966)– Mao Zedong, 900 million copies

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone (1997)– J.K. Rowling, 120 million copies

• And Then There Were None (1939)– Agatha Christie, 115 million copies

• The Lord of the Rings (1954)– J.R.R. Tolkien, 110 million copies

Most popular poems of the 20th century

• Howl- Allen Ginsberg• So you want to be a writer? – Charles Bukoski• Centrifuge – Dean Young• This be the verse- Philip Larkin• May I feel said he – E.E. Cummings

Quotes by famous writers• T. S. Elliot - "[W]e shall often find that not only the best, but the

most individual parts of [a poet's] work, may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously.”

• Peter Childs - "There were paradoxical if not opposed trends towards revolutionary and reactionary positions, fear of the new and delight at the disappearance of the old, nihilism and fanatical enthusiasm, creativity and despair.”

• You can see in the famous line by T. S. Elliot, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go”. This shows that in that time they were questioning what they could/couldn't’t do and what was right and what was wrong

20th century writing styles

• Poetry– Free verse

• Literature– Epiphanies

• Speeches• Memoirs• Novels• Stream of consciousness

Content

• Dystopian/Utopian– Dreaming of a better world of exaggerating the world

we live in• Freedom, protest, anti government sentiment– People are becoming restless about being treated

un-equal for no reason and revolutions are happening

• Technology– Technology is very prominent as it is a big part of our

day to day culture while it wasn't before