Quite honestly, the collective works of Modernists across the globe are probably some of the most difficult pieces to understand. For example, let us take a look at the work of Gertrude Stein, the most frustrating author you will ever meet. Her pieces are filled with the ideas that made Modernists famous, but she is so motivated to be a Modernist that it seems as if she has taken those ideas to the extreme level. For example, her poem A SOUND. reads as thus:
“A SOUND.
Elephant beaten with candy and little pops and chews all
bolts and reckless reckless rats, this is this” (Stein 259).
While this poem might be confusing at first glance, if one takes the time to look at it carefully, then they can see how this poem is a prime example of the Modernist movement and everything Modernists stood for.
In order to understand how this poem represents Modernism, it is important to first understand just what Modernism was, and what exactly Modernists believe in. In order to understand this we must turn to Michael Borshuk’s essay Swinging The Vernacular: Jazz and African American Modernist Literature. According to Borshuk’s essay there are several major ideas that Modernists hold dear to them. The first of these ideas is there must be individuality in an artist’s work. Borshuk begins his article by describing the opening scene of Episode Three of Ken Burn’s documentary on the history of Jazz. He writes that “Burns takes us indoors, into a cabaret... We see African American patrons in a cabaret, smoking and drinking while a small jazz combo performs onstage. The drummer juggles his sticks while he keeps time, all maverick style and undaunted poise” (Borshuk 1). It is this drummer that Borshuk seems particularly interested in as the essa...
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...k for doing this exact thing. A poem like A SOUND. can be intimidating to read, but if you just open up your mind and take things slow then you should be able to appreciate what Modernism was all about.
Works Cited
"Purdue OWL: Commas." Welcome to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). Web. 13 Feb. 2011. .
Stein, Gertrude, and Diana Souhami. "A Sound." Three Lives & Tender Buttons. New York: Signet Classic, 2003. 259. Print.
Borshuk, Michael. "The Language of Jazz as American Culture Becomes Modern." Swinging the Vernacular: Jazz and African American Modernist Literature. New York: Routledge, 2006. 1-19. Print.
Hilder, Jamie. “‘After all one must know more than one sees and one does not see a cube in its entirety’: Gertrude Stein and Picasso and Cubism.” Critical Survey. 17.3. 2005. 66-84.
Igor Stravinsky makes for a first-class example of differences and similarities between neoclassicism and modernism. Modernism is defined as “A term used in music to denote a multi-faceted but distinct and continuous tradition within 20th-century composition”1, while neoclassicism may be defined as “A movement of style in the works of certain 20th-century composers, who, particularly during the period between the two world wars, revived the balanced forms and clearly perceptible thematic processes of earlier styles to replace what were, to them, the increasingly exaggerated gestures and formlessness of late Romanticism”2 By not only comparing his works to others but within his own body of work the two movements can be better distinguished. Stravinsky composed in both styles throughout his musical career making his works not only a prime example but a map for the transition between periods/movements, thus giving distinctness to the movements. Stravinsky “cultivated a flexible and reciprocal association with his changing environment. While consistently producing work which transformed the sensibilities of those who heard it, he himself continuously allowed his own sensibilities to be fed, even transformed, by the music and music-making of others.”3 By comparing and contrasting the works of Stravinsky with not only his own works, but with his contemporary's of the early 20th century, the division and resemblances between neoclassicism and modernism can be thoroughly observed.
The definition of poetry, instead of becoming more selective and exact, has become a much more broad and open minded classification of literature. From It's beginning's in romanticist Puritan literature, to its more modernistic function on present society, poetry has become a way to blend the psychological side of human intellect, with the emotional side of human intuition and curiosity. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were two early poets from the late 19th century. Unlike Walt, Emily liked to write at home, she was a more secluded author who enjoyed to look out the window for inspiration. Walt on the other hand loved to travel. He found inspiration through nature and the diversity of thriving cultures throughout the world. Although these writers found inspiration from two different methods, their poems have distinct similarities in theme, images, and main ideas.
At the turn of the 19th century Americans faced a multitude of cultural changes, involving contraceptive acceptance, sexuality changes, and modernism acceptance. Contraceptives were illegal in the early 1900s and posed many relationship problems between married couples since they wanted to be intimate. New ideas about sexuality and affection changed the views on appropriate erotic practices to indulge in within single people typically around college age. Women and men didn’t wait until marriage before having some type of sexual relation, which caused family problems and government intervention because of the negative views of being promiscuous. Modernism ideals developed with the introduction of new sciences and the argument of evolution
The Modernist movement in Australia is inspired by the European avant-garde. In the mid-1910s, the first wave of modernism is felt through the influx of migrants, exhibitions and expatriates. In the following five decades, modernism experienced turbulent changes like economic depression, global wars, technological advances and massive social change, which undoubtedly further influenced the artistic output of Australian modernists. The introduction of modernism to Australia is a more complex phenomenon. Its complex and unfamiliar language often experienced passionate and strong resistance from the general masses.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, literature changed and focused on breaking away from the typical and predicate patterns of normal literature. Poets at this time took full advantage and stretched the idea of the mind’s conscience on how the world, mind, and language interact and contradict. Many authors, such as Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Twain, used the pain and anguish in first hand experiences to create and depict a new type of literature, modernism. In this time era, literature and art became a larger part of society and impacted more American lives than ever before. During the American modernism period of literature, authors, artists, and poets strived to create pieces of literature and art that challenged American traditions and tried to reinvent it, used new ways of communication, such as the telephone and cinema, to demonstrate the new modern social norms, and express the pain and suffering of the First World War.
Modernism can be defined through the literary works of early independent 20th century writers. Modernism is exp...
One attribute of Modernist writing is Experimentation. This called for using new techniques and disregarding the old. Previous writing was often even considered "stereotyped and inadequate" (Holcombe and Torres). Modern writers thrived on originality and honesty to themselves and their tenets. They wrote of things that had never been advanced before and their subjects were far from those of the past eras. It could be observed that the Modernist writing completely contradicted its predecessors. The past was rejected with vigor and...
It is a period when traditional values start to change.This movement causes innovations in science,art,culture,ethics,philosophy and psychology.It intends to find new or hidden meanings in the human experience.It’s main aim is to deal with new ideas.It is a break with the tradition.Modernist Poetry occurs between the 1890 and 1970.It’s key elements can be experimentation,anti realism,individualism.Experimentation means searching constantly.Anti-realism means to be against realism and concreteness.Individualism means to be an intellectual and to be an individual who has a self-confidence.The stress is mainly on the human mind rather than emotions.Many Modernist poets are from Universities,they appreciate their work a lot.It is a movement which is complex and diversed.It takes some of the important aspects from the movements.Modernism supports that every aspect from industry to philosophy should be interrogated.In this way,culture’s elements could be replaced by the new ones.The Modernist English poets write against the rules that are put by Victorian Poetry.They never deny the past poets or past works.They see themselves as they are respecting the earlier periods and other cultures.Their poems seem to be in longer form i...
Catherine Mansfield, Elizabeth Bishop and William Carlos Williams were poets and writers of short fiction that belonged to the Modernist movement. The movement itself was triggered mostly by the industrial revolution and the horrors of World War I. It was an inter-continental movement and spread into all spheres and disciplines, such as art, philosophy, literature, architecture, music, culture and so on. During the movement of modernism, the individual moved into the spotlight, and it the human subjectivity and self-consciousness was themes around which most of the art and literary worked evolved. Modernist writers adopted the stream of consciousness; a literary technique used to describe the workings of the mind, and the ways in which thoughts and feelings combined to create a subjective reality. The brother of William James coined the term, and the technique was improved by Katherine Mansfield, but brought to perfection by Joyce. The most dominant Modernist movement in poetry was imagism and found new inspiration in the writings of Sappho, Catullus and Villon. Everything that was not written in that manner was intolerable. The imagists insisted on direct treatment of the subject and omitted every word that was unnecessary decorum. These three authors are representatives of the Modernist movement because their work contains all the elements of modernist writing: imagism, interior monologue, the need to explore the human condition and life in general.
Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot on Modernism On Ezra Pound’s quote on modernism, he claims that "the modern age wants a literature that reflects an image of itself: "accelerated" and mass produced ("a mould in plaster/Made with no loss of time) as well as superficial." This means that today’s society wants a literature that resembles itself, fast paced and shallow. Society want literature that is direct and straightforward simply because people find it too "time consuming" to think for themselves. They would rather resort to the "work" already being done for them. Instead of experiencing the true beauty of literature and the arts, they would rather use "Cliffs’ Notes ("the classics in paraphrase")." As a result of various "time savers," the people of the modern age are left without the feelings that only reading the literature itself would provide. The people are hollow, dehumanized, and utterly superficial. Society lacks creativity and originality. The people are left numbed in the sea of clones. They fail to give acknowledgement or praise to those who do dare to be different and unique. Instead, they are cast out from society for being different. Ezra Pound states that, "Introspection ("the obscure reveries/of the inward gaze") in this age is unthinkable." This means that the people are afraid to examine their own thoughts and feeling because they are afraid of what they will see. T.S. Eliot’s works, "Preludes," "The Hollow Men," and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" substantiate Ezra Pound’s statement. "Preludes," by T.S. Eliot, is a literary work depicting city life. Although it was written some time ago, it contains a universal theme and is applicable even in today’s world. Eliot expresses the lonely, isolationist environment of the city. The people of the city seem dull, dreary, fatigued, and lifeless. The city dwellers repeat their daily mechanical routines; there is no change or break in the cycle. They come home tired and worn out from a day’s work, sleep, wake up, head towards coffee stands for a jolt of energy, and off they are to work again. Eliot expresses that people put on false fronts so that people do n...
middle of paper ... ... So, the end product of the efforts of the modernist poets is an American style of modern poetry, with a new attitude toward language, theme style and convention, and which has a new aesthetic. This new aesthetic eventually leads to the poets' finding a sense of personal freedom, which imitates the overall goal of society at the time-to escape the expectations of a system which no longer works, to break free from the oppression of the social rank-and-file, and to gain true personal freedom.
Modernism can be defined as the post-industrial revolutionary era, where which the western world began to see a change in all spheres of living. The effects of the industrial revolution became prevalent towards the end of the nineteenth century and the modernist movement drew inspiration from this widespread change. Artists, writers, architects, designers and musicians, all began to embrace the changing world and denounce their pre-taught doctrines and previous ways of producing work. Society felt the urge to progressively move forward toward a modern way of thinking and living.
Michael Levenson said in The Cambridge Companion to Modernism that Modernism fiction was “involved in the radical modern departure, across all of the arts, from representational verisimilitudei”. It was stylistically and thematically focused on rebellion against the way art was presented in the past and what its main focus was.
Introduction The movement Modernism is a philosophical artistic movement which was given birth in conjunction with cultural trends that came about in the western society in the late nineteenth and twentieth century’s. The sources that influenced modernism were the creations of the modern industrial cultures and the evolution of cities, and the occurrence by World War I. Modernism as a movement was a reaction to industrialization, and the outcomes of industrialization on humankind.
The modernist short stories are usually fragment, precise, short, there is no effort in any short stories to capture totality and to say, short stories which have a glimpse of reality in a capsule form. Some of the famous modernist writers are James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka, Charles Ba...