World War 1, Modernism and New Technology

Modernism

Modernist literature was a English genre of fiction writing, popular from the years 1910s into the 1960s. It was also characterized with traditional styles of poetry and verse. Modernism happened between the years of 1910-1960. The factors that shaped modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities. Modernism rejected the certainty of Enlightenment ideas. Most modernist rejected religious beliefs. It was characterized by a very self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing. In both poetry and prose fiction.

Modernism in literature took place from the beginning of the 20th century through about 1960. This happened after World War 1. The Modernism Era was marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with traditional ways of viewing and interacting with the world. Modernism was made, because of the new technology that was coming out and, because of World War 1. During this time many people were questioning what was going to happen with humanity, because of the war. Writers responded to this question by turning toward Modernist sentiments. Writers changed their way of writing because they viewed things differently with everything going on at the time. Their stories were more of a stream of consequences, irony, satire, and comparisons. Writers often wrote this way to point out society's ills.

There were a lot of talented writers during the modernist era. One of the most famous writers from the modernist era was Ezra Pound. He is the author of “ Hugh Selwyn Mauberly” and “The Cantos”. His writing would make people visualize the scenes to a point to where they believed they were there. He accomplished this by using literal meanings instead of symbolism. Another famous writer was Pablo Picasso. He is remembered for poetry and writing. He writes about reality yet has symbolism that seems real. T.S Eliot represents the dryness and lack of emotion during the two world wars. Charles Darwin was a famous author from the era. He wrote many books based on evolution and survival of the fittest. In the eyes of many these literary masterpieces that Darwin wrote, were revolutionary. “The Second Coming” was one of the most quoted poems of the era. It was written by William Butler Yeats. The author wrote from his mind, mostly society problems. Writers of the movement embraced the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and the anthropological relativism espoused by Sir James Frazer. Sometimes the readers would feel like some of the stories weren’t going anywhere. Writers would be inclined to write closer to the realist side of things rather than the spiritual and emotional side, at the time.

In conclusion, modernism was the era where writing started to change. Writers started to write about different types of stuff than usual, because of the things going on, especially the wars. Modernism was one of the most influential literary movements in England and America during the 20th century. There were many factors that shaped modernism. Many authors during this time wrote what they were thinking. Some people liked how the authors would write about reality. Some people didn’t like it. During this period there was a lot of different viewing of the world. The major themes of modernism were caused by the war and the technologically advanced weapons of the war that caused many injuries and deaths.

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