Modernism

Modernism

Modernism is defined in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary as "a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression." While this explanation does relate what modernism means, the intricacies of the term go much deeper. Modernism began around 1890 and waned around 1922. Virginia Wolf once wrote, "In or about December, 1910, human character changed." (Hurt and Wilkie 1443). D.H. Lawrence wrote a similar statement about 1915: "It was 1915 the old world ended." (Hurt and Wilkie 1444). The importance of the exact dates of the Modernist period are not so relevant as the fact that new ideas were implemented in the era. Ideas that had never before been approached in the world of literature suddenly began emerging in the works of many great authors. Two of the pioneer Modernist writers were Joseph Conrad and T.S. Eliot. The tendencies to question the incontestable beliefs embedded in all thinking and to focus on the inner self dominated. Old viewpoints were tossed aside to make way for the discovery of modern man's personal spirituality. Two works that are considered important forbears in the Modern period are T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

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...

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...hing, 1971. 37-66.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover Publications, 1990.

Cox, C.B. Joseph Conrad: The Modern Imagination. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1974.

Eliot, T.S. Collected Poems. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1936.

Holcomb, John, and Patricia Torres. "Modernism in Literature". 2002. LitLangs. 6 September 2003

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Hurt, James, and Brian Wilkie. Literature of the Western World Volume II Neoclassicism Through the Modern Period. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.

Monroe, Harriet. "A Contrast". Poetry A Magazine of Verse XXI (1923): 325-330.

Rpt. in Studies in A Waste Land. Ed. Matthew Bruccoli and Joseph Katz. Columbus: Merrill Publishing, 1971. 19-22.

Smith, Grover JR. T.S. Eliot's Poetry and Plays. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,1956.