Modernism

Defiance, Disillusion & Discontent

1914- …

Jackson Pollock “Number 20”, 1948

Jackson Pollock “One: Number 31”, 1950

Edward Hoper “Nighthawks,” 1942

Rene Magritte “The Son of Man,” 1964

Happening in the US:

Marked by 2 world wars, prosperity, and worldwide depression

A period of artistic experimentation and lasting literary achievement

Feeling of optimism before WWI WWI – struggle between Allies and Central

Powers, machine guns US involvement started with the German

sinking of the British Lusitania – Americans were on board

Prosperity and Depression

Prohibition – led to bootlegging, speakeasies, law breaking, and warfare among gangs

Economy began to boom after 1921 Entertainment: Radio – then jazz, music,

movies – movie palaces, the Charleston 1929 – Great Depression President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the

New Deal – ended the Depression

World War II

Began with the German invasion of Poland Isolation – dominant mood in US after the

fall of France US joined Allies after the Japanese bombing

of Pearl Harbor in 1941 Atomic bombing of 2 Japanese cities ended

war Now peace and the atomic age!!!

What is Modernism?

DEFIANCE: Breaking the rules!

Modernists experimented with a variety of new approaches and techniques.In literature – used fragments, omitted expositions, transitions, resolutions, and explanations, created new words, went against traditional norms of race and gender, rejected figures of authorityIn poetry – abandoned traditional forms and meters for FREE VERSE

What is Modernism?

Disillusion and Discontent: Loss of belief in and dissatisfaction with traditional values

Themes:LossExileIsolation Social woes (war, poverty)Human’s capacity for crueltyMovement away from religion; reliance on own sense of morality

Who were the Modernists?

Gertrude Stein Ezra Pound T.S. Eliot Ernest Hemingway F. Scott Fitzgerald William Faulkner John Steinbeck Sinclair Lewis J.D. Salinger

Known as the expatriates: These writers were unhappy after the war and many settled in Paris where they were influenced by Gertrude Stein.

Harlem Renaissance 1920s – 1930s

Began in 1921 with Countee Cullen’s “I Have a Rendezvous with Life (with apologies to Alan Seeger)”

A time of artistic, musical, and literary creativity for African Americans

Centered in the Harlem district of NYC

Produced great works of literature, the new musical forms of jazz and the blues, and opened the door for later African American writers

Harlem Renaissance

The New American Hero

Introduced by Ernest Hemingway, he was a man of action, a warrior, a tough competitor. He has a code of honor, courage, and endurance.

Hero shows “grace under pressure.” However, he’s completely disillusioned. He believes unbeatable odds are ranged against us all, so he recognizes and snatches up the rare, good, rich moments that life offers. Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby

Voices of Modernism “In a real dark night of the soul it is

always three o’clock in the morning.”– F. Scott Fitzgerald

“No more war, no more plague, only the dazed silence that follows the ceasing of the heavy guns.” – Katherine Ann Porter

“Everything is the same and everything is different.” – Gertrude Stein