Modernism In Modern Literature

Modernism In Modern Literature
The history of humanity is an extraordinary span of countless years that consists of wonderful advancements, extremely significant developments, new
constructions of ideas, and astounding movements. Humans have continuously driven to develop new ways of understanding the world and have tried
reshaping the intricate perceptions of the world throughout the course of time. While the entire past of humanity is full of astonishing explorations and
powerful events, only very few centuries could possibly challenge the importance of the twentieth century. The early portion of the twentieth century
was a very crucial period of time that carried great momentum for multiple revolutions across the globe, multiple wars, and major developments in
constructing the world. This influenced not only extravagant ways of thinking and understanding new concepts, but also drove new movements of art
and literature into cultures everywhere. This gave ideas such as Surrealism, Naturalism, Futurism. Realism and Romanticism the ability to thrive and
reform the perceptions of literature as a whole. However, one of the artistic key movements in the early twentieth century that shaped literature today
and made these other movements in literature possible is the Modernist movement. Modernism was substantial in Europe throughout the early
twentieth century, sweeping the minds of many marvelous writers and artists such as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. These two authors are
significant influences not just
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The Modernism Movement Essay
Modernism started as a movement around late 19th and 20th centuries. It rejected the conventional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith,
social organisation and everyday life as they felt it was incompatible with the new economical, social and political conditions that was emerging at that
period of time. Many distinctive styles can be defined as modernist, but majority of them had very similar values and theories on different aspects of
society. It gave birth to a whole array of art, cultural and political movements. Often referred to as an avant–garde movement at that time, it was a loose
assembly of ideas. They believed in creating a better world. Mainly consisting of left–leaning political ideology followers, they had...show more
content...
The book cover illustration by John Heartfield for instance is another image that springs up as modernist illustration. The image simply is of a
human like figure but the elements of the body parts are made up of various mechanical accessories e.g. clock, levers, meters, etc. Modernist's were
convinced, technology was the way forward and the image in particular echoed that ethos. The poster designed by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre for the
"Nord Express" was one of the iconic image during the later part of modernist era. The image has certain identical mark–making traits with other
illustrators working around same period of time. The poster itself in some sense advocates industrialisation. The bold colours and figurative lines
demonstrates the strength of industrialised future. Equality, and the desire to create a utopian world was one of the underlying principles of the
modernists. George Grosz's images often attacked the class system that was occurring in Berlin. The caricature drawings of the elite capitalist bankers
and the disillusioned lower class people illustrated the critical problem in the society that made the movement ever progressive. "Arrangement" – New
York (1925) was a lithograph print of a heavily industrialised cityscape by Jan Matulka. Modernist architects were fascinated by the idea of simplicity in
design, functionality and rejection of ornament, decoration, etc. The image underlines those ethics they maintained.
'In the

Modernism Essay examples
Modernism
Modernism is defined in Merriam–Webster's Dictionary as "a self–conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression." While this
explanation does relate what modernism means, the intricacies of the term go much deeper. Modernism began around 1890 and waned around 1922.
Virginia Wolf once wrote, "In or about December, 1910, human character changed." (Hurt and Wilkie 1443). D.H. Lawrence wrote a similar
statement about 1915: "It was 1915 the old world ended." (Hurt and Wilkie 1444). The importance of the exact dates of the Modernist period are not
so relevant as the fact that new ideas were implemented in the era. Ideas that had never before been approached in the world of literature suddenly
began emerging...show more content...
Stepping outside of the box, they wrote what they perceived in their own minds to be reality. The readers in turn were given a new form of literature
that was not written on the basis of beliefs that earlier had seemed indisputable. Not only were old belief systems disregarded, they were openly
opposed. Even more surprising, the new thoughts were acceptable, and in turn provided an alternative route for thinking that had not formerly been
considered.
Anti–Realism is another feature of Modernism. This element included the use of myth and allusion in writing. Description was a prominent feature in
literature before the Modernist period; writers had set the scene using an exactness that left little room for a reader's imagination. With Modernism
emerged the allusion, which meant that only certain aspects of the setting or scene were revealed. This provided freedom for the reader to think about
what the author was presenting through the text. The work was created through the inner feelings and workings of the characters and the symbols
hidden in the plot and setting. The way themes and points of view were selected went against the earlier convention also. Sigmund Freud's
Interpretation of Dreams in 1899 opened the door to previously undiscovered value in the human unconscious. This led to a whole new emphasis of
individualism in both the writer and the reader, who were given free reign to explore not only who a character was

A Thesis On Modernism
Brian Blair–Whitaker
LA LIT 4 H B1
Ms. Gladstone
2/16/18
Modern Thesis Paper
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, changes in the dynamics of society caused intellectuals to question the traditions of everyday life. From
religious views to the arts of literature, traditional values and forms were rejected, thus defining a line between the two time periods, which can be
considered as the start of the Modern era. Also known as Modernism, the modern era used literature as an outlet for expressing the thoughts and
feelings of the time. Modern texts use city life, industrialization and globalization, and ironic and satirical themes to showcase their bleak outlook on
life post both world wars. The nature of these events are aspects of society...show more content...
The mistrust of the world which is at the center of modernism can be attributed to the world wars and the psychological effect that it had on the
individual. The horrors and violence altered public perceptions of life, a change that is evident within writers of the time period. The focus of
writing shifted from the outward world to inner thoughts and feelings and overall representation of an individual's stream of consciousness which are
themes associated with modern text. In "Impact of Modernism", focuses on the idea that world needed new outlets for expression and in finding
them rejected the tradition that was already there with the quote, "Many modernists believed that by rejecting tradition they could discover radically
new ways of making art." (Impact) .The world no longer had the beauty it once did so a a discovery of new arts were needed. The mind of an
individual became that new found inspiration and beauty that modern writers needed and for that reason it was one of the main focuses of modern

The Spirit of Modernism
Literature has gone through various forms of expression, the events that have taken place in the daily life of human beings throughout history. The
most relevant facts of the life of man have been narrated through literature and other texts that allow us to know about past events that have influenced
the present of humanity, one of those forms of expression is modernism. Modernism is a movement dated from roughly 1900–1950 (Baym, 2013). In
short, modernism is about changes in society and changes in literary form. It could be said that modernism is in general the expression of a man's
emotion and a cry for nonconformity in the face of a reality that overwhelms those who took care of creating this literary school.
Modernist literature represents the change a traditional society experiences as it becomes modern, a transformation that may be painful. In this period,
Americans witnessed the devastating effects of World War I theGreat Depression, and World War II, and many people were disillusioned. Modernist
poets are, in general, knowledgeable about their personal and social reality. They fight against their own feelings and emotions, in look for a space of
reflection and expression against something that does not allow them to live fully. Both Fitzgerald and Glaspell demonstrate modernism in their texts.
Babylon Revisited is a story where Fitzgerald transports us to 1929, a year before the fall of the stock market and the social disaster that

What Are The Key Elements Of Modernism
Modernism is a movement that started in the early 1900's, there are lots of new ideas used in modernism and it does not include values of older
traditional literature. Some things that were questioned in modernist literature is what is the difference between wrong and right, what will our
country's future be, what is truth, and what does it mean to be an American. In modernism writers oftentimes don't give answers and make the reader
draw their own conclusions. Writers of the time are also worried about social injustice and want a better world and society. Key elements of modernism
include break from tradition, Individualism, and disillusionment.
One of the major changes in the modernist era is a break from tradition which focuses on being bold and experimenting with new style and form and
the collapse of old social and behavior norms. One example of this break from tradition is in the...show more content...
In "A Rose for Emily" after meeting Homer, a worker from the north, all the townspeople are surprised saying "We remembered all the young men
her father had driven away" (Faulkner 3). Emily feels disappointed as she wasn't allowed to ever start a relationship as a young woman and instead
has to wait until later in life. Second, "In Another Country" by Ernest Hemingway the main character who has been injured at war meets a Major
who he calls Signor Maggiore, After being asked what he wants to do after the war he says he would like to return to America and get married.
The Major does not like his answer and tells him a man should not marry, the main character then asks why and is answered with "He cannot marry.
He cannot marry, If he is to lose everything. He should not place himself in a place to lose that" (Hemingway 3). The major gets very upset at the
main character as he has lost his wife, the major also has disillusionment for technology as he does not believe the machines he uses to fix his hand will

Modernism Essay
Modernism
"An inclination to subjective distortion to point up the evanescence of the social world of the nineteenth century bourgeoisie."
–Barth, "Literature of Replenishment" (www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0255.html)
Modernism was rebellion against not only the repressive principles of the Victorian era but also the emergence of the fast–changing, materialistic
corporate society. The period preceding modernism held up Victorian virtues, which accepted the worldview of everything being ordered, neat, stable,
and meaningful. While fundamentally optimistic, Victorian culture featured hypercritical moralism as it had a very narrow, strict...show more content...
Stream–of–consciousness writing employed by Joyce and Woolf and other expressions of inward consciousness in narration threw asunder the
safeguard of the reliability of the narrator and required active contemplation by the readers. Perspective assumed a far greater importance in literature as
writers offered more impressionistic work without omniscient narrators and clean resolutions.
The proliferation of the experimental spirit in modernist works of literature often alienated popular readership, and such exclusivity served as a mark of
quality to a certain extent as it went in hand with the modernist intellectuals' disdain towards the mass–consumption–driven popular culture. Modernist
intellectuals rejected popular culture, as they perceived that creating work that would be universally accepted often involved certain sacrifices of their
genius and ultimately degraded art. The movement was certainly not egalitarian in nature. Modernism in fact strayed away from the idea of thinking in
terms of groups, opting instead to focus on the individual. It strove for self–knowledge, and the almost narcissistic interest in the self led to the
"spiritual alienation, self–exile, and cultural criticism" that pervaded the period.
The place that Hemingway and Fitzgerald occupied in literary modernism is difficult to pinpoint. They both dabbled with modernist writing styles
earlier

Analysis Of Literary Modernism
Literary modernism was a reaction against realism which was developed to depict real rural life (Campbell, 2017). As people begun to relocate to city
areas many writers and artist took to redefining the meaning of a realistic life. It was believed that one way of life no longer fit for everyone and
modernism introduced literature and art that began to question and show various perspectives of life. Peter Childs explains that "modernist writing
"plunges" the reader into confusing and difficult mental landscape which cannot be immediately understood..." (Childs 15). Uncommon poetry and
prose stemmed from this modernist development. A popular one being Nella Larsen's Passing, which encompasses two African American women who
are particularly...show more content...
As there was a rapid change in "normal" modernist literature searched for new realities and discerned what was unreal within them. The novel
Passing serves as an example that encompasses and illustrates what Childs refers to as the modernist creation of "the tradition of the new". Nella
Larsen's Passing was published in 1929, it was narrated by Irene Redfield as she reunites with a childhood acquaintance that is African American but
passes as a white woman in all areas of her life. Clare, Irene's acquaintance, who passes as white explores the uncertainty of reality as she steps into the
lifestyles of an African–American during the Harlem Renaissance, and Irene also explores her own uncertainty. Though many critics have stated that
race in the novel is mainly to serve as a source of suspense. I agree with Jennifer Brody the author of Clare Kendry's True Colors, that race is the
forefront issue within the story and it is related to issues of "class and sexuality" (1). Passing erupted a fascination of the realities of passing characters
both in black and white characters. Revealing the interest of ambiguity that many African Americans faced during this time period. The author of Nella
Larsen's biography argues that the main characters are not completely opposite but are especially meant to be developed as complex and

Modernist Literature Essay
Modernism emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century, following World War I and flowing through the "roaring twenties." Materialism, crime,
depression, and change filled this era. Reflecting the revolutionary time period, modernism itself was a revolution of style. Musicians, artists, and
writers broke away from traditional, conventional techniques to create new, rebellious art. Modernism, in other words, was a change in how artists
represented the world in their works. Passionate, sporadic jazz music–referred to as "jungle music"–danced through the music scene. Painters such as
Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky stroked over the paintings of impressionist, representationalist artists, such as Hilaire–Germain–Edgar Degas.
...show more content...
Before artists concerned themselves with what they said; now they were most concerned with how they said it. Therefore, content and subject matter
became back–up dancers to style. Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, for instance, revolves around a few characters that go from cafГ© to cafГ©
drinking and chatting nonchalantly. Another modernist artist, T.S. Eliot, writes a long, beautiful poem entitled "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufruck"
about a man contemplating asking a girl out, and William Carlos Williams describes a plain red wheelbarrow in one of his poems. However, the
reader does not become frustrated with these simple, somewhat shallow plots because the style triumphs. For example, J. Alfred Prufruck's silly
contemplation of courtship does not seem so silly because Eliot has a charming style. The Great Gatsby is another huge triumph of style over content.
Although the novel itself is about tragedy and loss and should leave one feeling very depressed, the reader feels quite the opposite. In other words,
Fitzgerald's writing brings pleasure despite his dismal subject matter.
Not only are the subject matters of modernist works unconventionally simple, but the sentences and word choices are also quite uncomplicated.
Modernist writers left behind the showy, overwritten, sentimental writing that was common before them and wrote leaner works. In The Great Gatsby,
Fitzgerald uses short, simple sentences throughout the work. For instance,

Modernism In Modern Poetry
Modernism by definition is "a style or movement in the arts that aims to depart significantly from classical and traditional forms". A movement which
is undoubtedly a reflection of the fragmented and collapsing Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, Modernism was a reaction to the world in
which it existed. Subsequent to the overly imaginative and emotive era of Victorianism, Modernism was indeed a dramatic movement away from the
changing values and ideas of the Victorian world. What Modernist Literature essentially evoked in its audience was a sense of dissolution with the
world, a world which it believed held traditions in literature, art, science, religion, among countless others, which were seen as incompatible with the
current social...show more content...
High Modernist Art was essentially born out of a conflated sense of both apocalyptic hopelessness following The Great War, but also a desperate
sense of hopefulness for the future. What is created from this hope is this "panicky search for distraction or higher meaning" which we see quite
evidently in "The Waste Land". One such section of the poem which demonstrates this search for meaning is in the first section "The Burial of the
Dead". Switching between a number of different narrators, this first section addresses much of the aforementioned devastation and destruction caused
after World War One and the search for meaning which followed it. Beginning with an aristocratic voice, Eliot uses the first speaker to conjure up a set
of memories from a pre–war era, set perhaps in the Austro–Hungarian Empire with the speaker bearing some Royal patronage "And when we were
children, staying at the arch–duke's, My cousin's". Where this search for meaning is seen here is in the speakers overall disillusionment with a world
so far detached from what they had previously existed in. What was once a time which "kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding a
little life with dried tubers", now only bears bleakness and severity, made clear through the poem's opening line "April is the cruellest month". The
speaker is no doubt lost in a world

Essay on Modernism in Literature
The turn of the 20th century conveyed revolution in psychological, social, and philosophical thought. It was time for something neoteric. It was time to
break out of the mundane tradition. This time of revolution conceded men, such as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud, to rise to fame
with their radical and cutting edge theories. Also, women were exasperated of their modeled roles in society. They sought to be independent, they
longed to have the ability to vote, and most of all, they wanted legal equality. This time period also brought the renewal of European expansion. With
new motivations, such as economic motivations, social imperialism, and the new theories of racial superiority, the British empire began concentrating on
...show more content...
The space in between the front lines of the defenders and the attackers was known as "No Man's Land". ("Trench Warfare") Thousands of battle
hardened soldiers would put their lives on the line by running into this "no man's land", just to win a few feet in the battle of the frontline. This led to
hundreds of thousands of casualties just to gain two or three feet on the battlefield. There is no better picture of this theory of irrational creatures than in
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which was published in 1902. ("Heart of Darkness") This novella is the story of a man, Marlow, who gathers a
crew of sailors to journey down to the Congo, in British controlled Africa. As Marlow and his men begin the adventure down the river, they are
soon given a mission to capture Mr. Kurtz, the best ivory extractor in all of Africa. The problem is, Kurtz has gone crazy, and his methods have
gone tribal. The corporation believes he has gone insane. It's not until Marlow finally gets to Kurtz through a very trying journey, that he realizes
Kurtz's actions are like the rest of ours, except Kurtz was tired of hiding behind civilization. Marlow realizes that we are all evil and we are all
corrupt, but we attempt to hide it with civilization. "The horror, the horror" (Conrad) are Kurtz last words he utters to Marlow before he dies. Kurtz
realizes the life of evil he has lived, the

Modern Literature : Realism And Modernism
Realism and Modernism are broad categories that cannot be taken explicitly; whereas Realism is concerned with the realistic portrayal of the
characters, the universal morality of the story and the strict adherence to literary form, Modernism is an attempt to break free from Realist literature
and not be bound by the same rules and traditions. It is intended to shock the reader, as T.S. Elliot says, "to startle and disturb the public" (Companion
3). Modern authors were living in a time of crisis during revolutions and wars where there was no stability; the institutions and Christian faith they
were raised in did not provide answers so they searched for meaning elsewhere, like James Joyce, or questioned if there was any meaning at all, like
Samuel Beckett. These crises are reflected in the Modern novel through various methods which attempt to present a realistic picture of a chaotic world.
Some authors employed elements of Realism, like Hemingway, but in modernist writing there is always more perspicacity beneath the surface, as
Michael Bell asserts, "Several of the greatest works of modernist literature are characterized by such a double awareness. They use realist representation,
indeed they often use it consummately, yet within an X–ray awareness of its constructed, or purely human character" (Companion 10). Applying Bell's
X–ray awareness to the Modern novel reveals that one of the most important facets of traditional literature is upended; the protagonist is not a

Definition Of Modernism In Fiction Essay
Definition of Modernism in Fiction
Modernism, in literature, can be seen as a shift in focus to the unassociated introspective reflection of characters in such texts as Go Tell It On The
Mountain, by James Baldwin, Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. This is a revision from the
previous focal point of exterior events and places in correlation with the character's reflections. Emphasis is placed on review upon feelings and
thoughts, and even conversations with oneself, as opposed to the more directly event–driven reflections in texts of the pre–modernist era.
This is not to say that texts of the modernist era have no events, or that their characters sit at home all day long thinking. Many...show more content...
It some modernist texts, including Catcher In The Rye, one can see many internal conflicts and much upheaval, without any certain outside events. For
example, when Holden takes his sister, Phoebe, to the park, he watches her on the carousel, and the thoughts he ponders don't appear to have any real
connection with what is going on externally. Instead, the audience sees a part of what could be described as Holden's emotional breakdown,
"The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall
off..."(211). Although this is brought on by his watching Phoebe, his sudden realization seems to have little correlation. By the end of the book,
one can tell that the person most likely to "fall off" is Holden.
This is not to imply that all modernist texts have characters who go off the deep end, though in a way, Miss Lonelyhearts does as well. Miss
Lonelyhearts seems to go off on tangents that are somewhat unbelievable and often violent and horrid. For example, when he and his friends are in
the bar, speaking to the old man, Miss Lonelyhearts suddenly feels, "as he had felt years before, when he accidentally stepped on a small frog.
Its spilled guts had filled him with pity, but when it's suffering had become read to his senses, the pity turned to rage..."(17). This recollection of
times parts is very characteristic of modernists texts. The time

The Movement Of Modernism
Modernism was a movement in literature, art, and music that began with the thought that everything there was to be written had already been written.
Modernist writers believed that in order to create new works, they needed to create a completely new genre, using new styles of writing. These writers
wanted to differentiate themselves from past literary movements, especially those of the Victorian era, dated roughly from 1837 to 1901 (Kirschen).
Although Modernism was a collective movement, Modernists came from all different walks of life. Modernists also come together on one important
issue, the push to form something new. They felt that in the new time of industrialism, old ideas of traditionalism were becoming quickly outdated.
Modernists, in literature at least, were people who wanted to create a new relationship between reader and author. Generally, though, Modernists aimed
to create a new form of expression. To define Modernism as a "general movement in literature,...show more content...
In the time before the nineteenth century, most artists were commissioned by wealthy people, or large foundations such as the church. In turn, this
caused most of the art from the previous time period to depict religious scenes, intended to teach the viewer. In the Modern period, artists began
creating things that interested them, using people, places, and ideas that captivated them. Many artists were influenced by the publication of Sigmund
Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams and in turn began investigating their dreams and symbolism as ways to create new works of art. Many modern
artists challenged the thought pattern that art was meant to portray the world realistically. They tried out new uses of color and brand new materials.
Artists used many new techniques and mediums as a means of producing new art, especially with the invention of photography. Photography made it
possible to depict the world in new ways, and to reinterpret it

The modernist period in British and Irish literature was one of the most important and exciting times in literary history. The term modernist stemmed
from the beginning of the 20th century labelled the modern period. The modern period was a time of confusion and transitions, mostly due to the
result of people returning from World War I. The modern period was an era of massive unemployment and technological changes. Freud, Jung, and
Marx were redefining human identity, Assembly lines and factories were being introduced, and gender differences were starting to crumble. The
modern period was a time of change, and the field of Literature was no exception. Susan Gorsky, in her book titled Virginia Woolf, states that " Virginia
Woolf perhaps...show more content...
Poetry, Drama, and fiction were subjected to intensive scrutiny and extensive redefinition, producing some of the most unusual and often difficult
literary creations in English: Eliot's Wasteland, Yeat's Plays for Dancers, and the fiction of Joyce and Lawrence is some examples.Modernist literature
reflects in it's structure as well as in it's content the overturning of tradition; the instances upon new design produced plays and stories without plots or
recognizably human characters, poems without rhyme or meter"(16, 17). The Modernist author was able to identify with their audience by creating
stories that not only asked important questions, but also got under the reader's skin. In George Orwell's essay titled Inside the Whale, he addresses the
fact that James Joyce's Ulysses is remarkable due to the fact of its "commonplaceness of its material." (Inside The Whale and Other Essays, 11). The
reader is able to put themselves in the characters shoes, the characters are very three dimensional, and like modern life their stories are not so much
like a fairy tales, as they are of everyday life. The character Joyce creates in Ulysses enters many different states of consciousness, dream states,
drunkenness.... demonstrating the ability modern literature has in relating the ideas of consciousness, in a way that the reader would be able to
identify with. Orwell goes further to say that Ulysses was filled with a "Whole

Bethany Price
Sennett
American Lit.
9–12–17
The Reality of Modernism in Literature
There are multiple reasons for withdrawal and isolation in society in a time of war, depression, or societal unrest. People in the time of war are often
conflicted with alienation of oneself from other people. After the war, the economy changed and people changed with it. Social standards shifted from
what it once was, due to this change people could not cope with the freedom they had to spend their money on mass made products and money they
didn't have to buy other things, eventually leading to the stock market crash. This modernism movement changed the live of many people and with that
change happened even though many resisted along the way. The older generation couldn't accept the fact that tradition had little meaning to the people
who were less patriotic and felt as if they weren't safe, and these people were called the "Lost Generation". The two of these informational pieces
directly link to Modernism due to the concepts hidden in them such as dissatisfaction and alienation.
These feelings of dissatisfied and alienation are well exemplified in Thomas Wolfe's Depression–era short story, "The Far & The Near," which is about
a train conductor who passes by a small town for 20 years. Always waving to a little family as he finishes his route.This little gesture he feels offers a
connection between what he wants the family to represent, an ideal dashed when he later meets them in person

The Importance Of Modernism In Literature
Modernism, a constantly debated term, is a philosophical movement that emerged during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following World War I.
Painters, writers, and musicians did not however perceive it just as a period in time, rather as a "commitment to experimentation in techniques, freedom
in ideas, originality in perceptions, and self–examination in emotions" (Baughman, Bondi, Layman...etc,1) Writers, for example, like James Joyce,
Virginia Woolf, and Ernest Hemingway broke away from the traditional and conventional techniques to create their own literary voice. Joyce's A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Woolf's Jacob's Room, and Hemingway's In Our Time each exemplify distinctive styles in ideology, art, culture,
and politics which eventually became what the modernist movement, also known as the avant–garde, appertained to. While their childhood's affected
their writing, Hemingway's minimalistic technique of composition in In Our Time, and Joyce and Woolf's prolific amount of attention to detail in A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Jacob's Room affected the growth of the modernist movement.
Virginia Woolf and James Joyce's similar upbringing shaped them into the people they are today. English modernist writer and critic, Adeline Virginia
Stephen, commonly acknowledged as Virginia Woolf, was born on January 25, 1882 in London, England and died on March 28, 1941. Woolf was
born into a typical Victorian family, where the father of the family was the

The Literary Modernism Time Period
The literary modernism time period was a movement in literature that started in the early 1890s and was very eventful. During this era there were
many considerable events taking place such as The Great War (also known as "World War One"), which started in 1914. This War lasted for four
years and finally ended in 1918, but its effects lasted much longer. The financial instability of Europe and death caused by this First World War gave
people a sense of patriotism that unified them. It made people think of not only the society as a whole, but themselves as individuals ("Modernism.").
This new individualist mindset made people think more about their thoughts and actions than they had ever previously done before. Because
individuals thought...show more content...
When Laura becomes aware of this news, she immediately suggests calling off the party. Mrs. Sheridan, Laura's mother, is repugnant against the
idea of canceling the party. Jose also displeased with Laura's suggestion and says, "If you're going to stop a band playing every time some one has
an accident, you'll lead a very strenuous life..." (Short Stories). After that, despite Laura's exhortative remarks for them to cancel the party, the
previous planes still uphold. Towards the end of the party, Laura and her father converse about the deceased gentleman while eating some
sandwiches. Laura decides to bring the leftovers to the widow of the recently departed man in a basket, and when she arrives she is invited in to the
house. She does not want to go in but the widow insists and Laura is given no choice. When she goes in, she is brought to the body of the deceased
and sees how carefree his face is. She contemplates the importance of everything that she once thought had importance and realizes that no one material
thing truly mattered to him at this point. She begins to cry and runs out of the house, only after managing to utter, "Forgive my hat," (Short Stories).
She then runs into Laurie who is outside, sent by their mother. He notices that she is crying, and she says, "Isn't life... isn't life–" (Short Stories). She
did not complete her sentence but he understood what she was trying to say, and replied "Isn't it, darling?" (Short

Modernism refers to the radical shift in aesthetic and cultural sensibilities evident in the art and literature of the early 20th century, approximately
between 1890 and 1860. Modernism marks a distinctive breakthrough from Victorian morality. Modernism stemmed from depression that had resulted
from the tragic outcomes of World War 1. Moreover, modernists made language central to artistic exploration and focused on the individual and his
alienation and confusion. Stream of consciousness is a postmodernist device that is the written equivalent of the character's thought process. It is
characterized by leaps in thought or the lack of some or all punctuation ("Modernism and English Literature", 0:50:2:50–4:31:5:31). On the other hand,
there is no fixed definition for Postmodernism, but it is considered a critique of modernism. Postmodernism argues that there is no absolute truth and
that the basic structures on which we have built our whole society are just social constructs. Furthermore, intertextuality is a postmodernist device that
draws upon the concept, rhetoric, or ideology, from other writings to be merged into the text. In the opinion of Kristeva, intertextual elements
significantly contribute to construct the meaning (UnboringLearning, 2012). Altogether, Modernist and Postmodernist technique allow us deeper
understanding of Prufrock in T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Notably, intertextuality helps us understand Prufrock's lack of
courage and

Modernism In Modern Literature

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Modernism In Modern Literature