Transcript Modernism PowerPoint

CHOICES
“We are the sum total of
all the choices we make.”
-Woody Allen
What choices must you make?
• To what degree do people judge you on the choices you make?
• To what degree do you judge yourself based on the choices you make?
• How are your values related to your choices?
HAPPINESS
SUCCESS
PERSONAL
FUFILLMENT
VALUE
SYSTEM
What are the most important issues of the last century?
How do they manifest themselves into the literature we read?
RELATION TO CHOICES AND HUMAN PLIGHT
MODERNISM(1910-1940ish)
AN ARTISTIC, MUSICAL, AND LITERARY
MOVEMENT IN THE 20TH CENTURY
Modernism Definition Continued…
Rejection of nineteenth-century
optimism, presented a profoundly
pessimistic picture of a culture
in disarray. This despair often
results in an apparent apathy
and moral relativism.
Some Modernists
Across the Arts
MODERN PAINTERS
• PICASSO
• MATISSE
• KANDINSKY
• DALI
MODERN AUTHORS
• ERNEST HEMINGWAY
• WILLIAM FAULKNER
• F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
• JOHN STEINBECK
MODERN POETS
• William Carlos Williams
• Wallace Stevens
• Marianne Moore
•
•
•
•
Patricia Smith
E.E. Cummings
H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
Robert Frost
MODERN ARCHITECTS
• WRIGHT
• GROPIUS
• LE CORBUSIER
• VAN DER ROHE
More rationale and practical.
MODERN ENTERTAINMENT
MOVEMENT
SILENT MOVIES- OFTEN FOCUSED ON THE
DANGERS OF THE MODERN WORLD
MAJOR ACTORSCHARLIE CHAPLIN & BUSTER KEATON
Characteristics of
Modernism as a
Cultural Movement
FORCES DRIVING MODERNISM
• Search for reason in an unreasoned
world
• Concerned with industrialization and
the displacement of persons
• Bothered by the hypocrisy of
Christianity
MODERNISTS’ VIEW OF
THE WORLD
• The world is chaos
• The world is unstable
• Loss of faith
• Collapse of morality/values
MODERNIST BELIEFS
• Alienation is an increasingly common
condition
• No absolute certainties and truths
CHARACTERISTICS OF
MODERNISM
• LOSS OF FAITH IN
THE AMERICAN
DREAM
• REJECTION OF
ARTIFICIALITY
“Isn’t it pretty to think so? - Hemmingway
Art and Mentality
PICASSO’S CUBISM
• FIRST PICTURE-Self Portrait 1899-1900
• SECOND PICTURE-Self Portrait, cubist period
• Role of artist changes
Art for arts sake…
Characteristics of
Modern
Literature
WRITING STYLE
• Imagery and symbolism- frequent
• Colloquial language
• Literature as art- form, style, and
technique are important
• Often includes much dialogue
• Stream-of-consciousness; interior
dialogue
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
• Narration is structured by narrator's
or character's flow of consciousness
and memory
• Associative (rather than
conventional "linear")
• Often employs flashback and flash
forward techniques
MODERN HERO
IN LITERATURE
• Rejection of the ideal hero
• Hero in modern story will be
flawed and disillusioned
• EXAMPLE:
• Jay Gatsby- The Great Gatsby
• George Milton- Of Mice and Men
New hero: ironic,
frustrating, disappointing,
self-doubting, anxious
CHARACTERIZATION IN MODERN
LITERATURE
• Interest in the inner workings of the human
mind
• Intense psychological characterization (Freud
and Jung)
• Reader learns about characters primarily
through dialogue
PLOTS AND MODERN LITERATURE
EXPLORES:
• Sense of isolation
• Uncertainty
• Disillusionment
• Disjointedness
• Meaninglessness
MODERN LITERATURE FORMS
• Literature often lacked expositions,
resolutions, and transitions.
THEMES IN MODERN
LITERATURE
1.
2.
3.
Critique of traditional
values of our culture
Loss of meaning and
hope in the world
Alienation from
society and loneliness
4. Violence
5. Decadences and Decay
6. Loss and Despair
READERS ROLE
OLD READERS
• His role is passive:
• HE IS:
– Taught
– Entertained
– Emotionally involved
MODERNIST READERS
• The reader has an
active role
– must give his own
subjective interpretation
Rejection of nineteenth-century optimism,
presented a profoundly pessimistic
picture of a culture in disarray. This
despair often results in an apparent
apathy and moral relativism