Modernism

Movement that started and developed during the late 19th to early 20th century during a period in European history that was marked by transformation, innovation, upheaval, technological development and war. This was a period and a movement marked by the questioning of the axioms of earlier ages. Modernism in general refers to the activities and output of those who thought that the “traditional” forms of art, architecture, literature, religion, social organization and daily life were insufficient to the task of encapsulating the new economic, social and political conditions of the emerging industrialized society.

The art, culture and writing of that era largely refracted or reflected these tensions, capturing a sensibility of change, transition and a rising sense of crisis.

The ideology of modernism was to go against some aspect of tradition or status quo. Modernist writers wanted to break with the past, rejecting literary traditions that seemed outmoded and diction that seemed to be out of touch with the era of technological breakthroughs and war. Many modernist poets/writers wrestled with the fundamental question of “self”, often trying to show the feeling of fragmentation and alienation from the world; in modernist writing, a coherent speaker with a clear sense of self is correspondingly hard to find. Modernist writing is also often viewed as a backlash against the Victorian style of poetry and writing which was marked by traditional formalism and ornate diction. Modernists saw themselves as looking back to the best of the poetry of the past as well as the poetry and writing of different cultures.

Quote from Peter Childs: "There were paradoxical if not opposed trends towards revolutionary and reactionary positions, fear of the new and delight at the disappearance of the old, nihilism and fanatical enthusiasm, creativity and despair.”

Radical artistic experimentation abounded during this era, perhaps as a reaction or reflection of the age of global war. Literary modernism has continued to shape a sense of art as a form of cultural revolution that must break with established history, constantly pushing out the boundaries of artistic practice.

In art, it was an era of high aesthetic self consciousness and non-representationalism, in which art turned from realism and humanistic representation toward style, technique and spatial form in pursuit of a deeper penetration of life. An order in art that was independent of, transcending the humanistic, the material, the real – art that made life, the artist’s consciousness, internal drama, the structure that lies beyond time, history, character or visible reality, the moral imperative of technique.

There was a movement toward sophistication and mannerism, towards introversion, technical display and internal self-scepticism. The experimentalism of the modernist age was not just of sophistication and novelty, it was also of bleakness, darkness, alienation and disintegration.

Backdrop

The late 1800s and early 1900s saw huge socio-cultural changes such as the rise of industrialism, the rise of cities and urban life, technological advancements in transportation, architecture and engineering, a rising population that engendered crowds and chaos in public spaces, a growing sense of mass markets which downplayed the individual “self” and left people feeling alienated, fragmented and at a loss in their daily worlds.

This tension and unease intensified during and after WWI which had contributed to the general collapse and decay of the social/moral order. In England, in particular, modernist writing was a distinct breakaway from the poetry/writing of the golden years of the Victorian era, reflecting an England that was bleaker, weakened by WWI and much less secure with its place in the world.
The pop culture of the early 20th century also left its mark on modernist writing – in many novels of that era, speakeasies, jazz music and bars were featured. The role of women changed as many took up jobs left behind by men during the war and this was reflected not only in the changing fashions of the era but also in the increasingly non traditional roles played by women in novels.

The modern movement in art transformed artistic form, thought and consciousness just as the scientific, technological, philosophical and political innovations transformed the speed, the nature and the very experience of human life.

The philosophy of times also questioned the entrenched social and religious orders. Marx, Freud and Engels, Nietszche lived and wrote during this time – questioning not only the established political order but also pushing the boundaries of established philosophical and religious thought. They altered the established understanding of the mind and of human identity and undermined traditional notions of truth, certainty and morality.

Influence

The modernist era had enormous influence on the art, culture and poetry of the post-modern age. It remained integrally woven into contemporary awareness, possessing the power to startle, renew and disturb. The innovative thinkers, writers , artists and experiments of the modernist era enlarged our understanding of the world, and the innovations that seemed outrageous, mad or impossible has now entered into our cultural lexicon, ironically becoming part of the canon in painting, architecture, music, film and writing, despite the fact that as a movement, it had questioned and attempted to overthrow the canonical and traditional.

But the modernist ideals of revision, reinterpretation, questioning of tradition and order in art, social organization, philosophy continue to frame and influence the mores and thought of society today. In particular, post modernist thought and culture grew out of the shadow of the modernist movement and a good understanding of postmodern thought very often prompts and demands the study of modernist thought and culture as a backdrop.

Characteristics of Modernist Poetry/Writing: (incomplete)

- Experimental poetry – do not follow traditional schemes, organised in a ways which the poet feels it should be (big spaces, line breaks, words scrunched together). Breaks the rules of grammar. Sense of non linearity and disjointedness.
- Anti realism – avoiding traditional topics, not usually describing actual occurrences
- Individualist: striving for their own style or subjects of poetry, breaking the norm.
- Thoughtful and philosophical – not mainly focused on emotions but reasoning around ideas or the poet’s inner thoughts.
- Extensive use of free verse
- Move away from the Romantic idea of a poetic “self” addressing an ideal reader/audience.
- Self consciousness
- Imagism
- Dada art

Poets/writers (incomplete list):
- e e cummings
- TS Eliot – The Waste Land, Journey of the Magi, The Lovesong of Alfred J Prufrock
- Virginia Woolf: Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse
- Hilda Doolittle (HD)
- William Carlos Williams (Imagist)
- Mina Loy
- (lesser known) Dorothy Parker
- Ezra Pound
- Walt Whitman
- Hemingway