MODERNISM1914-1945

American involvement in World War I left

many yearning for the isolation of previous

years.

The crisis point for the interwar period

occurred during the 1930s.

The literary aesthetic of “high modernism

Modernism began as a self-consciously

international and apolitical aesthetic.

American drama matured thanks to

experiments by playwrights reacting to

Broadway and successful mixtures of

various theatrical elements.

Poetry 1914-1945: experiments in

form

Ezra Pound (1885-1972)

Ezra Pound was one of the

most influential American

poets of this century.

He was a link between the United

States and Britain.

He championed various poetic approaches.

Pound’s interests and reading

were universal.

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born inSt. Louis, Missouri.

He studied Sanskrit andOriental philosophy.

One of the most respected poets of his day had revolutionary impact.

He also wrote influential essays and

dramas.

BETWEEN THE WARS

Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) He lived in California and

wrote of the Spanish

rancheros and Indians.

He re-created themes of Greek

tragedy set in the rugged coastal

seascape.

Edward Estlin Cummings (1894-1962)

He known as e.e.

Cummings.

He also used

colloquial language,

sharp imagery, and

words from popular

culture.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

One of many talented

poets of the Harlem

Renaissance of the 1920s

was Langston Hughes.

Hughes incorporated

blues, spirituals,

colloquial speech, and

folkways in his poetry.

Hughes published numerous black

anthologies.

References:

http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/literature-

1991/modernism-and-experimentation-1914-

1945/

MODERNISM AND EXPERIMENTATION: 1914-1945

(VanSpanckeren, K. (2011). Outline of American

literature.)