2. Modernism
• Movement started in 1900
• Modernism marks a distinctive separation from
optimistic Victorian morality.
• Rejects optimism of the nineteenth century and
presented a deeply pessimistic picture of a disillusioned
culture. This level of despair often causes apathy and
moral contingency.
• Can also be referred to as the radical shift in art and
literature styles post- WWI era.
• One of the most influential periods for literature, art and
science.
3. Modernism As a Movement
• Although modernism is known best for its literary
works, it also dramatically changed the sciences,
philosophy, psychology, anthropology, painting,
music, sculpture, and architecture.
• Modernism was created on a feeling of lost
community and civilization. It personified a series
of paradoxes and contradictions. The movement
often referred to society as “the lost generation.”
4. Influential Writers
From left to right: Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Virginia Woolf, W.B. Yeats.
5. W.B Yeats
• Born 1865, Ireland.
• Strongly advocated a democratic government after WWI.
• Served as an Irish Senator.
• Died 1939, France.
6. T.S. Eliot
• Born 1888, St. Louis, Missouri.
• Wrote “The Waste Land” which is considered one of the most important pieces of the
twentieth century.
• Died 1965, London, England.
7. Ernest Hemingway
• Born 1899, Oak Park, Illinois.
• Wrote “A Farewell to Arms” which was another important novel of the twentieth
century.
• Died 1961, Ketchum, Idaho.
8. World War I
• Began July, 1914.
• Started by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
• Introduced modern weaponry such as machine guns, tanks and chemical
weapons.
• One of the bloodiest wars in history with over 8,528,831 killed, 21,189,154
wounded, and total casualties reaching upward of 37,466,904.
• War included two separate sides known as the Central Powers and the
Allied Powers. The Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary,
and the Ottoman Empire. The Allied Powers included The USA, Great
Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan.
• Ended November, 1918.
• Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 which mapped out new European
borders and placed harsh sanctions and reparation payments on Germany.
9. Modern Literature and WWI
• World War I changed the content and form of English
literary texts.
• Many authors and poets in this time were seriously
concerned about aestheticism and the nature of
civilization, in which the war was supposed help
maintain.
• Fears of cultural and civil degradation were major
themes of literary pieces of this time.
