Modernism in American literature occurred between 1914-1945. This period saw experimentation in poetic form from influential American poets like Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and Langston Hughes. Pound championed new poetic approaches and was a link between the U.S. and Britain. Eliot had a revolutionary impact with his poetry and essays. Hughes incorporated blues, spirituals, and folkways into his poetry and published numerous black anthologies.

1. MODERNISM
1914-1945

2.  American involvement in World War I left
many yearning for the isolation of previous
years.

3.  The crisis point for the interwar period
occurred during the 1930s.

4.  The literary aesthetic of “high modernism

5.  Modernism began as a self-consciously
international and apolitical aesthetic.

6.  American drama matured thanks to
experiments by playwrights reacting to
Broadway and successful mixtures of
various theatrical elements.

7. Poetry 1914-1945: experiments in
form

8. Ezra Pound (1885-1972)
 Ezra Pound was one of the
most influential American
poets of this century.

9.  He was a link between the United
States and Britain.

10.  He championed various poetic approaches.
 Pound’s interests and reading
were universal.

11. T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
 Thomas Stearns Eliot was born
in
St. Louis, Missouri.
 He studied Sanskrit and
Oriental philosophy.
 One of the most respected
poets of his day had
revolutionary impact.

12.  He also wrote influential essays and
dramas.

13. BETWEEN THE WARS

14. Robinson Jeffers (1887-
1962)
 He lived in California and
wrote of the Spanish
rancheros and Indians.

15.  He re-created themes of Greek
tragedy set in the rugged coastal
seascape.

16. Edward Estlin Cummings (1894-1962)
 He known as e.e.
Cummings.
 He also used
colloquial language,
sharp imagery, and
words from popular
culture.

17. Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
 One of many talented
poets of the Harlem
Renaissance of the 1920s
was Langston Hughes.
 Hughes incorporated
blues, spirituals,
colloquial speech, and
folkways in his poetry.

18.  Hughes published numerous black
anthologies.

19. References:
 http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/literature-
1991/modernism-and-experimentation-1914-
1945/
 MODERNISM AND EXPERIMENTATION: 1914-1945
(VanSpanckeren, K. (2011). Outline of American
literature.)