Modernism 19151940 After World War I Disillusionment with eternal verities of glory honor and patriotism after what the soldiers had witnessed Gertrude Stein actually she overheard this You are all a lost generation ID: 772959
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Modernism 1915-1940" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Modernism 1915-1940
After World War I Disillusionment with eternal verities of “glory,” “honor,” and “patriotism” after what the soldiers had witnessed. Gertrude Stein (actually, she overheard this): “You are all a lost generation.” Meaninglessness of life after the slaughter of the war.
Ezra Pound, from Hugh Selwyn Mauberly There died a myriad, And of the best, among them, For an old bitch gone in the teeth, For a botched civilization, Charm, smiling at the good mouth, Quick eyes gone under earth's lid, For two gross of broken statues, For a few thousand battered books.
Nature of Truth In realism and naturalism: reality and truth exist, and it is the artist’s responsibility to represent them in a coherent fashion. In modernism: reality exists, but it can only be represented partially, in fragments, since that is the nature of modern experience. In postmodernism: reality and truth are necessarily partial and represented subjectively through each person’s experience.
Modernism Fragmentation: the idea that truth could be represented only partially and from multiple perspectives. Related to Cubism in art. Alienation from and resistance to traditional cultural norms and values
Modernism, continued Imagism: Poetic movement that valued clear, objective description as a creator of meaning rather than abstractions. Ezra Pound: “No ideas except in things.” “Go in fear of abstractions.” Poets: H.D., Pound, William Carlos Williams Fascination with technology and the modern as subject matter and analogue for modern life Intersections with Harlem Renaissance
Modernism, continued Exploring the past and myth as a way of making meaning (T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land ) Exploring other (and non-Western) cultures, including their forms of poetry Translations Haiku and other forms
z Little Magazines
z The Mind in Modernism Psychology and psychiatry (Freud, Jung) as a means of exploring consciousness and the nature of being human.
z Modernist Perspectives Subjective viewpoints Stream of consciousness (Example: Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse ) Experimental forms of poetry, including free verse Inspiration from jazz and popular arts (Langston Hughes)
General Principles and Poetry Terms (review) Contrasting words or images; antithesis (“stout blood, staggering brain”) Parallel images or ideas Rhyming words “zest/breast” Repeated words Sonnet Meter AnapesticIambicTrochaicDactylic
Poetry Terms Enjambment: A line having no end punctuation but running over to the next line. Caesura: A short but definite pause used for effect within a line of poetry. End-stopped line: A line ending in a full pause, usually indicated with a period or semicolon.
Sounds in Poetry Types of rhyme Exact rhyme Slant rhyme Double rhyme (feminine rhyme) Single rhyme (masculine rhyme) Alliteration Assonance Euphony / cacophony