Modernism
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The Oxford English Dictionary identifies
“modernism” as the portmanteau term for
“(a)ny of the various movements in art,
architecture, literature, etc., generally
characterized by a break with classical and
traditional forms or methods of expression.”
Modernism was that earthquake in the arts
which brought down much of the structure of
pre-twentieth century practice in music,
painting, literature, and architecture.
One of the major epicentres of this earthquake seems
to have been Vienna (1890-1910), but the effects were
felt in France, Germany, Italy, and eventually in
Britain, in art movements like Cubism, Dadaism,
Surrealism, and Futurism.
Girl with Mandolin,
cubist painting by
Pablo Picasso
Dadaism made
use of collage,
photomontage,
assemblage,
and other
techniques...
Surrealism was a 20th
Century avant-garde
movement in art and
literature which sought to
release the creative
potential of the
unconscious mind, for
example by the irrational
juxtaposition of images.
Futurism was an early
20th Century artistic
movement centred in Italy
that emphasized the
dynamism, speed, energy,
and power of machine and
the vitality, change, and
restlessness of modern
life.
Modernism: Melody and harmony were put
aside in music; perspective and direct pictorial
representation were abandoned in painting, in
favor of degrees of abstraction; in architecture
traditional forms and materials (pitched roofs,
domes and columns, wood, stone, and bricks)
were rejected in favor of plain geometric
forms, often executed in new materials like
plate glass and concrete; and in literature,
there was a rejection of traditional realism, in
favor of experimental forms....
High Modernism
(1910-1930)
T. S. Eliot
James Joyce
Ezra Pound
Wyndham Lewis
Virginia Woolf
Wallace
Stevens
Gertrude Stein
Marcel Proust
Stephane Mallarme
Andre Gide
Franz Kafka
Rainer Maria
Rilke
Characteristics of
Literary Modernism
1. A new emphasis on impressionism and
subjectivity, that is, on how we see rather
than what we see (eg., stream-of-
consciousness technique)
2. A movement (in novels) away from the
apparent objectivity provided by such features
as: omniscient external narration, fixed
narrative points of view and clear-cut moral
positions.
3. A blurring of the distinctions
between genres, so that novels tend
to become more lyrical and poetic,
for instance, and poems more
documentary and prose-like.
4. A new liking for fragmented forms,
discontinuous narrative, and
random-seeming collages of
disparate materials.
5. A tendency towards ‘reflexivity’, so
that poems, plays, and novels raise
issues concerning their own nature,
status, and role.

Modernism (1)

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  • 2.
    The Oxford EnglishDictionary identifies “modernism” as the portmanteau term for “(a)ny of the various movements in art, architecture, literature, etc., generally characterized by a break with classical and traditional forms or methods of expression.”
  • 3.
    Modernism was thatearthquake in the arts which brought down much of the structure of pre-twentieth century practice in music, painting, literature, and architecture.
  • 4.
    One of themajor epicentres of this earthquake seems to have been Vienna (1890-1910), but the effects were felt in France, Germany, Italy, and eventually in Britain, in art movements like Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.
  • 5.
    Girl with Mandolin, cubistpainting by Pablo Picasso
  • 6.
    Dadaism made use ofcollage, photomontage, assemblage, and other techniques...
  • 7.
    Surrealism was a20th Century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.
  • 8.
    Futurism was anearly 20th Century artistic movement centred in Italy that emphasized the dynamism, speed, energy, and power of machine and the vitality, change, and restlessness of modern life.
  • 9.
    Modernism: Melody andharmony were put aside in music; perspective and direct pictorial representation were abandoned in painting, in favor of degrees of abstraction; in architecture traditional forms and materials (pitched roofs, domes and columns, wood, stone, and bricks) were rejected in favor of plain geometric forms, often executed in new materials like plate glass and concrete; and in literature, there was a rejection of traditional realism, in favor of experimental forms....
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    1. A newemphasis on impressionism and subjectivity, that is, on how we see rather than what we see (eg., stream-of- consciousness technique)
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    2. A movement(in novels) away from the apparent objectivity provided by such features as: omniscient external narration, fixed narrative points of view and clear-cut moral positions.
  • 26.
    3. A blurringof the distinctions between genres, so that novels tend to become more lyrical and poetic, for instance, and poems more documentary and prose-like.
  • 27.
    4. A newliking for fragmented forms, discontinuous narrative, and random-seeming collages of disparate materials.
  • 28.
    5. A tendencytowards ‘reflexivity’, so that poems, plays, and novels raise issues concerning their own nature, status, and role.