Modernism and Postmodernism

1. Introductory
Presentation on
Trends & Movements
Presenters: Aakash Chavda
Dhatri Parmar
Yashraj Sodha
Department of English, MKBU
Date: 5th Feb, 2024
Department of English

2. Points to Ponder
● Absurdism
● Comedy of Menace
● Modernism
● Stream of Consciousness
● Avant Garde Movements
● Expressionism
● Dadaism
● Surrealism
● Postmodernism

3. Absurdism
● Absurdism, a philosophy that emerged in the 20th century, particularly associated with
philosopher Albert Camus, is rooted in the inherent conflict between humanity's innate
desire for meaning and the recognition that genuine meaning is ultimately elusive.
● The belief that human beings exist in a purposeless chaotic universe.
● Mass killing of millions of people made writers of the age believe that the world is
meaningless.
● Two writers, Soren Kierkgaard and Albert Camus have tried to give solution for
absurdism in their works, The Sickness Unto Death and The Myth of Sisyphus,
respectively.
● Absurdism is like ferris wheel.

4. Albert Camus: Developer of Absurdism
● Albert Camus, a writer and philosopher, made significant contributions to
understanding absurdism. His ideas have inspired others in the field, shaping the
thoughts of many.
● According to him, to embrace absurdism, you must pick one of three choices.
● Real Suicide
● Philosophical Suicide
● Acceptance of Absurdities

5. I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in
the night sky and laid myself open for the
first time to the benign indifference of the
world.
– Albert Camus, “The Stranger”

6. Existentialism Vs Absurdism Vs
Nihilism
● Although absurdism shares similarities with nihilism and
existentialism, these philosophical schools diverge in a paradoxical
manner.
● Existentialism posits that individuals have the freedom to assign their
own meaning to life.
● Nihilism, akin to absurdism, asserts the absence of inherent meaning in
life. Nihilists contend that nothing, including perspectives,
experiences, belief systems, or consequences, holds significance in the
universe. Essentially, nihilism suggests that everything is insignificant.
● Following the concept of absurdism, world is meaningless and one
should accept as well as rebel against the absurdities of life.

7. Why Absurdism Matters
● Engaging in absurdism provides the freedom and chance to discover one's own
meaning and purpose in life.
● People can create personal meaning without depending on any universal truth. This
gives them the freedom to believe anything, no matter how simple or absurd it may
seem.
‘We should rebel against meaninglessness by enjoying our
lives with the full knowledge that they have no meaning
whatsoever. For Camus, this is freedom.’
“I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free.”
- Nikos Kazantzakis

8. Absurd Theatre
● According to Martin Esllin, Absurd Theatre “Strives to express its sense of the
senselessness of the human condition and the inadequacy of the rational approach by the
open abandonment of rational devices and rambling thoughts”
● The plays of Samuel Beckett, Arthur Adamov, and Eugene Ionesco have achieved
remarkable success with performances in Europe and France.
● All occurrences appear to lack rational motivation, unfolding randomly or under the
whimsical influence of an unpredictable and irrational fate.
● Ionesco's definition of the absurd, is that which has no purpose, or goal, or objective, applies not
only to the plays of Beckett and Ionesco but also to those of Arthur Adamov.
● Major Writers: Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot (1952)
Eugene Ionesco - The Bald Soprano (1950)
Jean Genet - The Maids (1947)
Arthur Adamov - Ping Pong (2006)
Harold Pinter - The Birthday Party (1957)

9. Comedy of Menace
● The label "comedy of menace" is commonly attributed to Harold Pinter's early works like "The Room,"
"Birthday Party," and "A Slight Ache." This term implies that while these plays exhibit humor, they also evoke
an unsettling and undefined sense of fear or menace. The audience, even in moments of laughter,
experiences discomfort and unease.
● Menace arises from potential or actual violence, creating an underlying atmosphere of threat and uncertainty
throughout the play.
● The term "comedy of menace," coined by drama critic Irving Wardle, is employed to characterize the works of
David Campton and Harold Pinter. This label is derived from the subtitle of Campton's play "The Lunatic
View: A Comedy of Menace."
● The Birthday Party as Comedy of Menace: Although the term 'comedy of menace' implies that comedy takes
precedence over menace, the play's humorous approach to serious themes such as oppression and cruelty
actually adds to the unsettling nature of the viewing experience.
Harold Pinter David Campton

10. The Birthday Party
● "The Birthday Party" is a tragic play infused
with comedic elements, essentially a comedy
that yields a profoundly tragic impact.
● A constant sense of unease persists, even in
moments of laughter or amusement.
● “Pinter Pause”
● high comic level to one of deep seriousness.
● technique that Pinter uses to create an
atmosphere of menace is to cast doubt on
almost everything in the play
● absurdity of the play which is represented
through menacing effect has its own
symbolic significance.

11. Yashraj
Modernism
● Modernism is a philosophical, religious, and
art movement that arose from broad
transformations in Western society during the
late 19th and early 20th centuries.
● The movement reflected a desire for the
creation of new forms of art, philosophy, and
social organization which reflected the newly
emerging industrial world, including features
such as urbanization, architecture, new
technologies, and war.
● Artists attempted to depart from traditional
forms of art, which they considered outdated
or obsolete.

12. Characteristics of the
Movement:
● Influence of Modernist Writers
● Break with Tradition
● Inner Self and Consciousness
● Neglect of Nature and History
● Role of the Narrator
● Relativity of Truth
Modernist writers and
their works:
● The Map
● The Imaginary Iceberg
● Paris, 7 A.M.
Ernest Hemingway
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Elizabeth Bishop
● The Great Gatsby (1925)
● This Side of Paradise (1920)
● The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
● The Torrents of Spring (1925)
● The Sun Also Rises (1926)
● For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)
Yashraj

13. Stream of Consciousness
Yashraj
● Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the
natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating
sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax, and rough grammar.
● Stream of consciousness writing is associated
with the early 20th-century Modernist
movement.
● The term “stream of consciousness” originated
in psychology before literary critics began using
it to describe a narrative style that depicts how
people think.
● Stream of consciousness is used primarily in
fiction and poetry, but the term has also been
used to describe plays and films that attempt to
visually represent a character's thoughts.

14. What Makes Stream of Consciousness Different?
1. Syntax and Grammar:
- Avoids ordinary rules.
- Reflects unformed or changing thoughts.
- Allows for "run-on sentences" and interruptions.
2. Punctuation Usage:
- Utilizes unconventional punctuation.
- Indicates pauses and shifts in thought.
3. Temporal Experimentation:
- Arranges events non-chronologically.
- Reveals past details through memories.
4. Sensory Impressions:
- Thoughts respond to sensory impressions.
- Describes what characters see, hear, smell, etc.
5. Repetition:
- Emphasizes themes and motifs.
- Indicates fixation on certain thoughts.
6. Plot Structure Experimentation:
- Involves experimentation.
- Includes multiple unreliable narrators.
- Incorporates nonlinear plot structure.
7. Association and Loose Connections:
- Relies on associative thought.
- Transitions based on personal experiences.
- Mimics randomness of thoughts.

15. Stream of Consciousness Examples
‘Mrs. Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf:
The novel Mrs. Dalloway follows the
thoughts, experiences, and memories of
several characters on a single day in
London.
‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison:
Toni Morrison uses stream of
consciousness in passages throughout
Beloved. In this passage, readers hear the
voice of a character named Beloved who
seems to be the spirit of the murdered
infant of another character named Sethe
‘The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock’
by TS Eliot:
Modernist poet TS Eliot uses stream of
consciousness techniques in his famous
poem, "The Love Song of J Alfred
Prufrock.
‘As I Lay Dying’ by William Faulkner:
In this passage from his novel As I Lay
Dying, the character Jewel expresses his
frustration that, as his mother is dying, his
half-brother is noisily building her a
casket just outside her window.

16. In the arts and in literature, the term avant-garde (advance guard and vanguard)
identifies a genre of art, an experimental work of art.
The experimental artist who created the work of art, which usually is aesthetically
innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable to the artistic establishment
of the time.
The military metaphor of an advance guard identifies the artists and writers whose
innovations in style, form, and subject-matter challenge the artistic and aesthetic
validity of the established forms of art and the literary traditions of their time.
Yashraj

17. Expressionism :
● Artistic style: depicts subjective emotions, not
objective reality. late 19th to early 20th centuries
● Characteristics: distortion, exaggeration,
primitivism, fantasy
● Emphasizes subjective, spontaneous self-expression
● Emerged pre-World War I, continued into the interwar
period
Expressionism in Literature :
● Reacted against materialism, bourgeois prosperity, mechanization, and
urbanization
● Characteristics of Expressionist Drama :
● Minimal details on place and time; emphasis on internal mental states
● Use of concentrated, elliptical monologues
● Themes include youth's spiritual malaise, rebellion, and political remedies
● Inner development depicted through loosely linked tableaux or "stations"

18. ● Key Playwright:
● Forerunners: August Strindberg and Frank
Wedekind
● First full-fledged play: Reinhard Johannes
Sorge's "Der Bettler" (1912, performed 1917)
● Expressionist Poetry:
● Nonreferential, seeks ecstatic, hymnlike
lyricism
● Uses condensed language with strings of
nouns, few adjectives, and infinitive verbs
● Dominant theme: horror over urban life and
apocalyptic visions
● International Influence : Expressionist
dramatic techniques used by American authors
Eugene O’Neill and Elmer Rice

19. Dadaism
“Dada is the art of the nihilist. It smashes accepted wisdom, challenges norms
and values, and offends, upsets, and provokes us to re-examine everything.”
● Philosophy of absurdity.Tzara: "Dada is useless, without pretension."
● Rejects systems, philosophy, truth. Embraces contradictions and nonsense.
● Dada in Poetry: Hugo Ball: Meaningless foreign-sounding words.
● Visual Art and Iconoclasm: Hausmann: Disconnected
phonemes.Duchamp: "Fountain" questions art and artist.
● Experimental Film Expression: Hans Richter: "Ghost before Breakfast"
with incoherent revolt.
● Collage as Psychological Expression:Kurt Schwitters: "Psychological
collages" with object fragments.

21. Continue...
● Avant-Garde Dilemma:
● Staying provocative, radical, and anti-establishment while
seeking success.
● Struggle for maverick rebels: balancing ideals with
practicalities like mortgages and education.
● Grayson Perry's Observation:
● Avant-garde's creative revolt often co-opted for profit.
● What was fresh and challenging becomes a tool for making money.
● Risk of turning into a predatory capitalist expression.
● Dada's Nihilistic Essence:
● Challenges accepted wisdom.
● Offends, upsets, and provokes for re-examination.
● Absurdity as a reflection of life's dissonant patchwork of egos
in a nihilistic abyss.

22. Surrealism
● Visual art and literary movement in interwar Europe. Evolved
from Dada movement, emphasizing positive expression. Guillame
coined the term.
● Rejection of Rationalism : Reacted against perceived damage
caused by European rationalism
● Responded to World War I horror
● The Surrealist Manifesto (1924) by André Breton
● Goal: Merge dream and fantasy with everyday reality
● Aspired to create "an absolute reality, a surreality"
● André Breton demanded doctrinal allegiance, leading to internal
conflicts
● Influence of Freudian Theories
● Heavy reliance on Sigmund Freud's theories. Unconscious as the
source of imagination
● Surrealist art viewed as prompting personal psychic
investigation
● Surrealism in Poetry : Poets like Breton, Paul Éluard, Pierre
Reverdy. Juxtaposition of words guided by psychological,
unconscious thought processes

23. Postmodernism
What is Postmodernism ?
Postmodernism is a late 20th-century movement in
philosophy and literary theory that generally
questions the basic assumptions of Western philosophy
in the modern period.
● Rejection of Objective Reality :Denial of an
objective natural reality independent of human
perception. Reality seen as a conceptual construct
shaped by scientific practices and language.
● Relativism in Truth Claims: Rejection of the
objective truth of descriptive and explanatory
statements.
● Skepticism Towards Progress: Critique of science and
technology as potentially destructive and oppressive.

24. Postmodernism in Literature
● Challenging Universality of Reason: View of
reason and logic as subjective constructs within
intellectual traditions.
● Denial of Human Nature: Assertion that human
psychology is entirely socially determined.
Rejection of the existence of inherent human
traits present at birth.
● Semiotic View of Language: Language as
semantically self-contained, influenced by
Jacques Derrida's deconstruction. Critique of
Foundationalism:
● Resistance to Totalizing Theories: Opposition to
constructing grand theories explaining all
aspects of natural or social worlds. Critique of
such theories as imposing conformity and
marginalizing diverse perspectives.

25. Postmodernism and Relativism:
● Denial of objective reality, objective truth, and
objective moral values.
● Insistence that reality, knowledge, and value are
constructed by discourses.
● Criticism of Enlightenment rationality and its
standards.
● Embrace of a nuanced view influenced by power
dynamics, as seen in Michel Foucault's work.
● Advocacy for inclusivity and democracy by
recognizing alternative perspectives, especially
those of non elite groups.
● Postmodernism as a theoretical basis for identity
politics movements in the late 20th century.

26. References :
“The Birthday Party. A Comedy of Menace.”
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UWBgUVEULJTA_KFIWJjL_Eb4a4y8Lwax/view. Accessed 5 February 2024.
Campos, Manuel, and Jose Manuel. “A Guide to Modernism in Literature – EnglishPost.org.” EnglishPost.org, 6 July
2023, https://englishpost.org/literary-movements-modernism/. Accessed 5 February 2024.
da Vinci, Leonardo. “Expressionism | Definition, Characteristics, Artists, Music, Theater, Film, & Facts.” Britannica,
https://www.britannica.com/art/Expressionism. Accessed 5 February 2024.
Duignan, Brian. “Postmodernism | Definition, Doctrines, & Facts.” Britannica, 5 January 2024,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy. Accessed 5 February 2024.
Martin, Esselin. “The Theatre of the Absurd.” Jstor, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1124873. Accessed 5 February 2024.

27. Pereira, Ansel. “Absurdism Defined: Its Meaning and Philosophy.” Owlcation, 10 October 2023,
https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Philosophy-of-Absurdism. Accessed 5 February 2024.
“Surrealism | Definition, Painting, Artists, Artworks, & Facts.” Britannica, 4 January 2024,
https://www.britannica.com/art/Surrealism. Accessed 5 February 2024.
Thomson, Jonny. “A canvas of nonsense: how Dada reflects a world gone mad through art.” Big Think, 21 April
2021, https://bigthink.com/high-culture/nonsense-dada-world-mad-art/#Echobox=1644655019. Accessed 5
February 2024.
Tzara, Tristan. “European Art in the Early 20th Century | Boundless Art History.” College Sidekick,
https://www.collegesidekick.com/study-guides/boundless-arthistory/european-art-in-the-early-20th-century.
Accessed 5 February 2024.