Mar 24, 2020 modernism, in the fine arts, late 19th to mid20th century, a break with the past and the concurrent search for new forms of expression. American modernist literature the art and popular culture. The high modernism began after the first world war. Laura frost knows her way around the modernist classics. Let me mention a final set of themes which, although there are throwaway sentences in marxs writings which.
This encyclopedia is the most comprehensive guide yet both to the nature and content of literature, and to literary criticism. This category has the following 19 subcategories, out of 19 total. They removed so much as to reach minimalism, in which the functioning of the remaining elements was based on the principle of less means more. It does not mean modern in the sense of recent in time. The string quartet was published in virginia woolfs shortstory collection monday or tuesday in 1921. The postmodernist reconstruct the modernist literature. Pages in category modernist novels the following 78 pages are in this category, out of 78 total. In its beginnings it was principally an aesthetic and cultural revolution. During this period, society at every level underwent profound changes. His books includethe age of elizabeth in the age of johnson 2003 and deception and. Modernism stands as the signal literary upheaval of the long 20th century, and yet the tenuousness of its appeal to make it new, as ezra pound commanded, entails the period or periods that follow are likewise uncertain save in their reference to modernism. This portable document file is furnished free and without any charge of any kind.
Characteristics when modernism was born, it was in reaction to the way of life that was becoming dominant in society at large, the dominance of the way of the city. The encyclopedia of twentiethcentury fiction, 3 volume set wiley. Literary modernism has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in europe. Modernism, in the fine arts, late 19th to mid20th century, a break with the past and the. Written by expert scholars from around the world and covering hundreds of different topics in a clear, incisive, and critical manner, this reference maps the complex field of modernism in a fresh and original way. Narrative was reduced in ulysses and in the french nouveau roman. The resource is an invaluable tool for students and researchers, and brings together a wealth of interdisciplinary content about the modernist period.
Modernist literature is the literary form of modernism. Eliots poem the waste land 1922 are also prime examples. The modernist god state seeks to overturn the traditional secularization approach to intellectual and political history and to replace it with a fuller understanding of the religious basis of modernist political movements. James joyces ulysses is the classic example of modernism in the novel. Modernism article about modernism by the free dictionary. Modernists experimented with literary form and expression, as exemplified by ezra pounds maxim to make it new.
By literary theory we refer not to the meaning of a work of literature but to the theories that reveal what literature can mean. Literary modernism the art and popular culture encyclopedia. Literary modernism, or modernist literature, has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in europe and north america, and is characterized by a selfconscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction. Modernism is still widely acknowledged as perhaps the most important and influential artistic and cultural phenomenon of the 20th century. The advent of modernism as a literary movement went unremarked at the time, and when that time was remains a matter of debate. The encyclopedia of twentiethcentury fiction, 3 volume set. What are characteristics of modernist literature, fiction in. Among the factors that shaped modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by reactions to the horrors. Encyclopedia of literature and criticism, 1990 online. However, it can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning. In imagist poetry, the writer does not talk about the themes behind the image. Introduced of modernism and modernist literature 19141945 modernism is a comprehensive movement which began in the closing years of the 19th century and has had a wide influence internationally during much of the 20th century. For a brief moment, london, which up to that point had been culturally. Modernism is both a philosophical movement and an art movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from widescale and farreaching transformations in western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
For these critics, modernist literature was both incomprehensible and dangerous. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription. Modernist literature simple english wikipedia, the free. Paul poplawski, encyclopedia of literary modernism. The 10 best modernist books in english publishers weekly. The theories of sigmund freud, with the emphasis on subconscious motivations, was influential to modernist writers. Literary modernism, or modernist literature, has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in europe and north america. Encyclopedia of contemporary writers and their works pdf. Modernism is characterized by a break with traditional styles of poetry and verse. Literary modernism has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in europe and north sudamerica. Literature, digital humanities, and the age of the encyclopedia in the study at hand i discuss literatures exposure to media and technology and the emerging field of digital humanities in. There is no ideal reader of the waste land or ulysses, who understands all t. In academia, the term often labels departments and programmes.
Modernist artists were profoundly impacted by the first word war that determined a break between the old. Some philosophers, like georg lukacs, theorized that literary modernism had its origins in the philosophy of walter benjamin. Modernism, in the fine arts, late 19th to mid20th century, a break with the past and the concurrent search for new forms of expression. The general idea of modernism may be best expressed in the words of abbate cavallanti, though even here there is a little vagueness. The general editors are to be commended for this substantial addition to the reference works on british literature in the period 16601789. Modernism encompasses the works of artists who rebelled against nineteenthcentury academic and historicist traditions, believing that earlier aesthetic conventions were becoming outdated. Sep 20, 2002 1219 modernism 2 historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. The first of its three parts considers formal and contextual issues, including myth, politics, gender, and race, while the second and third parts discuss a wide range of individual poets, including ezra pound, t. Learn more about the history of modernism and its various manifestations. She was an editor of the routledge encyclopaedia of.
The routledge dictionary of literary terms the routledge dictionary of literary termsis a twentyfirst century update of roger fowlers seminal dictionary of modern critical terms. Both have too long confined themselves to answers which, though fundamentally. Jun, 2017 literature scholars differ over the years that encompass the modernist period, however most generally agree that modernist authors published as early as the 1880s and into the mid1940s. Literary modernist connections to world war i are covered in a nearly sixpage entry, the war. Jack lynch is professor of english at rutgers university, newark. It fostered a period of experimentation in literature, music, dance, visual art, and architecture.
Despite intense critical debate and disagreement over its very name, nature and scope, modernism continues to be widely acknowledged as probably the most important and influential artisticcultural phenomenon of the twentieth century, whether it is considered primarily as a movement, a period, a genre, a style or an ideology. The hutchinson encyclopedia of literature is a reference book, with entries. Modernism is characterized by a selfconscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse. Pdf version by solitude modernism characteristics of modernism post modern literature background. The russian fyodor dostoevsky explored his characters mental travails and spiritual anguish, a focus. Literature scholars differ over the years that encompass the modernist period, however most generally agree that modernist authors published as early as the 1880s and into the mid1940s. A new history 2008, and modernist literature 18901950 2010. Literary theory literary theory is the body of ideas and methods we use in the practical reading of literature.
In literature departments in america during the early cold war political art was either a contradiction in terms or a reminder of the discredited work of the 1930s left, a literature that was generally dismissed as doctrinaire and party line, lacking in linguistic and imaginative energy and. Literary modernism, or modernist literature, has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th. English literature english literature the modernist revolution. Literature definition is writings in prose or verse. Modernist literature in america dealt with such topics as racial relationships, gender roles and sexuality, to name just a few. In ninety essays by leading international critics and scholars, the volume covers both traditional topics such as literature and history, poetry, drama and the novel, and also newer topics such as the production and reception of literature. A companion to modernist literature and culture edited by david bradshaw. Pdf literature, digital humanities and the age of the. The modernist literary movement was driven by a conscious desire to. Lackey demonstrates that christianity, instead of fading after the enlightenment, actually increased its power by becoming embedded within the concept of what was.
Confessional poetry oxford research encyclopedia of literature. This is not to say that modernist literature is inaccessible, as its reputation can suggest. Contemporary fiction and modernism oxford research. In fact, most contemporary serious writing remains insistently modernist. By the end of the period covered, the waste land, lawrences birds, beasts and flowers, stevens. His early poetry shares woolfs later concern with bergsonian pure duration, contrasting. Though the oxford encyclopedia of british literature sees modernism ending by c. Brazilian novelist and poet, whose modernist works emphasized the distinct cultural.
Marxist literature, however, adopted a negative position toward modernism as early as the late 19th century, viewing it as a manifestation of the disintegration of bourgeois culture p. This period saw writers deliberately moving away from the romanticism of the navodaya period, which is considered an age of literary renaissance shaped by complex interaction with colonialism and the west. A history of modernist poetry examines innovative anglophone poetries from decadence to the postwar period. The main characteristics of modernist literature pen and. There are separate entries for key works of james joyce and for stravinskys the rite of spring, whose audacious premier is described with a verve unusual for a readyreference encyclopedia. Literature definition of literature by merriamwebster. Eliots or james joyces allusionsand there never was such an ideal reader. Time, in short, shapes literature several times over. Modernism, known in kannada as navya, emerged as a literary movement in the 1950s. Modernism and feminism representations of women in.
This article demonstrates the place and role of the image of women in modernist art and literature, mainly focusing on impressionism and postimpressionism. Modernist definition of modernist by the free dictionary. Modernist literature sought to explode the confines of realism, and utilized strategies like stream of consciousness monologues. Literary modernism and english fiction modern western literature commenced from the 1890s. From 1908 to 1914 there was a remarkably productive period of innovation and experiment as novelists and poets undertook, in anthologies and magazines, to challenge the literary conventions not just of the recent past but of the entire postromantic era. Modernist literature was a predominantly english genre of fiction writing, popular from roughly the 1910s into the 1960s. Modernists experimented with literary form and expression, adhering to ezra pounds maxim to make it new. Metafiction oxford research encyclopedia of literature. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the literary encyclopedia evolves. Bringing together original entries written by such celebrated theorists as terry eagleton and malcolm bradbury. Notes and queries, 4 december 2016 the entries are clearly written, wellsourced and crossreferenced with related entries from the encyclopedias three volumes. It discusses the unique works of modernist painters and writers marie cassatt, edgar degas, edouard manet, pablo picasso and virginia woolf to explore how modernist art and literature both defined, reflected and shaped gender roles. To my beloved mother to whom i owe a lifetime of a mothers most self sacrificing devotion. Literary theory internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
The resource is an invaluable tool for students and researchers, and brings together a wealth of. English literature is as diverse as the varieties and dialects of english spoken around the world. Yeats, mina loy, gertrude stein, wallace stevens, william. English literature the modernist revolution britannica. Modernist literature came into its own due to increasing industrialization and globalization. Just as experiences of modernity outside the western world have prompted accounts of alternative, colonial, or vernacular modernities, literary modernism in india calls for a recognition of historical and locational specificities. It reached its peak in america in the 1920s up to the 1940s. Franz kafkas the metamorphosis 1915, the trial 1925 and t. Welcome to the routledge encyclopedia of modernism. Oxford encyclopedia of american literature oxford reference. As we remarked in our summary of the story on tuesday, its one of woolfs strongest evocations of music and its links to memory and imagination. Access to the complete content on oxford research encyclopedia of literature requires a subscription or purchase. The insufficient cultivation of catholic philosophy and science is the second deep explanation of the origin of modernist errors.
Encyclopedia of contemporary writers and their work is an invaluable guide to englishlanguage fiction writers born after 1959 and their best work. Coverage includes some of the most vital and appealing writers working today, such as changrae lee, michael chabon, zadie smith, and dave eggers. Literary modernism has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in europe and north america. Its objective was to break down a colonial mentality in art and letters that largely ignored national realities in order to imitate foreign currents in these areas.
In response to the covid19 crisis, the literary encyclopedia is offering free access until june 30th to all he institutions affected by closures. If you think about it, we read all literature, understand all language, only partially. Characteristics of modernism in literature with some. Modernism in kannada literature routledge encyclopedia of. Modernism in indian literature routledge encyclopedia of. Pdf on jan 1, 2006, samantha lavoine and others published a companion to. Here he takes a deliberate look back at irish writer flann obriens novel at swimtwobirds 1939, a journalists satire of selfreflective tendencies in modernist literature, and uses its slapstick narrative structure to make fun of the metafictional devices he had borrowed for his own work of the 1970s. Modernism in indian literature, like indian modernity, resists tidy definitions. Such characteristically modernist techniques as streamofconsciousness. If you wish to enable access for your institution, please click here to request access. This encyclopedia offers an indispensable reference guide to. The wiley blackwell encyclopedia of literature, part one set. War and industrialization seemed to devalue the individual. Encyclopedia of literary modernism, 2003 online research.
Modernism is a useful term for the literature that emerged at the of the twentieth century to challenge the mimetic conventions of bourgeois fiction, but postmodernism is not simply its more recent replacement. Modernist literature archives interesting literature. Modernist literature considers this change the greatest revolution in art. Of all the writers of the modernist generation, it was perhaps t s eliot who read most deeply in bergsonian philosophy, attending bergsons lectures in paris in 191011 and then returning to harvard to undertake a phd in philosophy that grappled with bergsons ideas. Modernist literature is heralded for having changed the form and content of literature and exploring new avenues in style and semantics. The architect sir edwin lutyen visited the battlefields of northeastern france in july 1917 in order to investigate the need for permanent memories to the vast number of dead.
Ulysses 1922 has been called a demonstration and summation of the entire modernist movement. Modernist movements, such as cubism in the arts, atonality in music, and symbolism in poetry, directly and indirectly explored the new economic, social, and. Modernism simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ever since its ideas first took hold in the 1980s, postmodern theory has had a significant influence on the social sciences. Certainly a break with the realistic fiction of the victorian era, analytical in manner and unitary in form, was evident by the 1890s in, for example, the middle work of henry. Modernism influenced painting first impressionism and cubism are forms of modernism, but in the decade before world war i such writers as ezra pound, filippo marinetti, james joyce, and guillaume apollinaire translated the advances of the visual arts into literature. Culture and literary criticism 1996, class 2001, literary criticism.
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