Modernist elements in Vijay Tendulkar’s Silence! The court is in session Modernism is a comprehensive but nebulous term for a movement which began to get under way in the closing years of 19th century and which exerted a wide influence internationally during much of the 20th century. As far as literature is concerned, modernism implies a breaking away from established rules, traditions and conventions and finding out fresh ways of looking at man’s position and function in society. Vijay Tendulkar, true to the spirit of his time, dwells upon the modernist ideas both technically and thematically in his plays. Let us concentrate on certain modern aspects in Tendulkar’s Silence! The court is in session. From the structural point of view, it would not be wrong on our part to mark Tendulkar’s play as modern. He, for the first time, brings the dramatic play of inserting ‘a play within a play’ in Indian theatre and that to in a very innovative style. While the ‘plays’ within the plays, as in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Thomas Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy, formed only parts of the main plot. I...
Lukacs, Georg. “The ideology of Modernism” Literature in the Modern World. Ed. Dennis Walder. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2004.
Modernism can be defined through the literary works of early independent 20th century writers. Modernism is exp...
[8] This section is very problematic. I don't want to make reductive generalizations and assertions about Modernism. At the same time, I do not want to explore the work of any one writer in too much detail. I'm going to allude mainly to Eliot and Pound, for simplicity's sake.
The play's meaning through two oppositions is defined by its stage action and its language, are parallel and complimentary to each other. The play is, in a way that determines our response to its meaning, a sequential experience. Our response is shaped through the duration of its performance.
Modernism or modernist poetry refers to the time period where poems were written by various people between the 1890s and 1970s. Modernism poets have a lot of knowledge and their works reflect it. The Era of modernism brought on modern language as it referred to thought, practice or someone’s character. This brought on a lot of change in the world. The thought behind the thinking of modernist poets were that of individualism. The modern movement came about as the result of the industrial revolution. This was during a time were most people were moving out of the rural farm areas and began moving into cities around more people. The advancement in technology also played a big part in the modern movement. During this time new factories were being built, communication and technology became likely amongst people. Modernism can refer to not only literature but also to music, art and architecture to name a few. The goal of modernism was to attract the human mind, in so many words. Modern which definition in so many words means “current”, related to the current situations of the world during this time.
As a direct result of an artistic rebellion against the edicts of the Romantic Era, the aristocratic hypocrisy of the Victorian Age, and of the horrors of both World War I and World War II, the Modernist movement in the arts was inevitable. Roughly beginning at the close of the 19th century through as late as 1965, Modernism came to the forefront in literature (Rahn). Defined by the technological changes in the social, political and cultural climate brought about by the aforementioned wars, the discoveries of the Industrial Age, and new schools of psychological theories, Modernism is characterized by themes concerning alienation and disconnection and a loss of the traditional values of its predecessor. Literature of Modernism shifted focus from religious ideologies and social manners to that of science and technology (“British Literary History Chart”). This shift allowed and even challenged writers to entertain ideas in their individual works to consider things once considered politically incorrect, such as, themes centered on death that ultimately leads to suicide, an unthinkable topic, not to mention a religious taboo in the previous age (Rahn). Both Henrick Ibsen’s play, Hedda Gabler, and Franz Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, fit into the Modernism time period and schema of literature. Surprisingly, however, because its first publication date is 1818, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein can also be categorized as a work of Modernism due to its scientific focus and both Victor and the creature’s sense of disconnection and alienation from their surrounding world. The delineating characteristics of Modernism are evident in these works and although brought about by differing circumstances, self-infli...
The ‘Modern’ era began, approximately, in the mid-1800s (Worthen), following its predecessor the Romantic period, which was an era that was emotionally charged ad focused on the physical relationships between characters and being one-with-nature, rather than the focus of the modernist period which was to bring social and political issues or statements into the storyline of a script whilst still keeping the stage, characters and overall performance aesthetically pleasing for the audience of the particular period. Modernism in the theatre is the act of bringing the stage and the forms of modern life, at one time, to a critical relationship. As stated by Worthen, the modernist period or the modern world we live in today began in the mid-1800s
In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, the players and their play emphasizes the importance of theatre and its’ power. The players arrive in Act2 Scene2. They are announced by a flourish of trumpets, which is the usual occurrence upon the arrival of actors; yet, this is the second time in the scene we have heard such a grand entrance, the first being that of the King and Queen at the start of the scene, therefore a similar feeling of importance is evoked for the players Immediately.
In the modernism there was no focus on the plot events, instead the writers focused on characters' consciousness. Ambiguity and complexity were valued at that time. Modernists often work towards open endings and used the narrative gaps. In the early modernism the technique of Stream of Consciousness was widely used to know more about the human sense. Modernism was influenced by naturalism and realism. Its social content is characteristically avant-grade (Drabble 682). Moreover, the 20th century is one of the most important periods in English drama. New ideas, terms and styles have been introduced as a result of the atmosphere. Writers on that time expressed their anger and scorn as a result of the wars and the revolutions. There were many social changes at that time and the playwrights started to tackle that in their plays (Innes
Esslin's book consists of eleven chapters each of which touches on a dramatic phenomenon or critical issue. His book is opens with a preface and is appended a general index of plays and secondary resources. There are three explanatory diagrams in the book through which Esslin clarifies his theory on suspense. The book discusses the common definitions of drama in the first chapter, goes over the theories and critical aspects of drama as a genre in the following chapters, and concludes by declaring some statements about the truth of drama in the last chapter. Esslin often follows a pattern throughout his chapters; he undermines a critical thought or unravels a common critical confusion then injects his own notions and critical thoughts.
Aparna, Bhargava. Theatres of Independence: Drama, Theory, and Urban Performance in India Since 1947. New York: University of Iowa Press, 2009.
...Earthquake victims is presented effectively on the stage. The murder of the leader who has put this hundi and convicting this offense on Gandhi is a crucial turn in the play. Gandhi introducing himself and promoting his own ideals and presenting his inner conscience to the present day pubic is crucial in the play. Actually, the playwright makes all to envisage, the situation would be like this if Gandhi really comes to earth now. This may be an outstanding experimentation of the very idea of many to expect a savior like Gandhi to come to guide the present generation. By translating this play into several languages he succeeded in influencing many.
Therefore, much of the modernist views on India being a muddle, realistic truths, and the fact that there are multiple truths are all enforced by the narrative techniques used that E.M. Forster uses. Many of the modernist techniques that are frequently used by modernist writers work in collaboration with the manipulation of narration. In A Passage to India, most of the modernist views are reinforced by the narration shifts, multiple truths, and confusing narration or dialogue. By doing this, Forster escapes the traditional, strict forms of writing and is able to explore a new and modern literature fit for his time.
Another common characteristic of modernism is the decline of the importance of religion. Many authors decided to replace traditional religion with a new form of symbolism, which was often pagan in origin……………………
Modernism is a movement that began in the early 1900’s as a way to break from traditional thinking and move forward into a new way of thinking about the ever-evolving world and its impact on society. Professor Mary Klages offers her thoughts on Modernism and the characteristics it holds as well as her thoughts on postmodernism, a movement that later followed Modernism, in her paper titled “Postmodernism.” In Arthur Miller’s essay titled Tragedy and the Common Man, Miller gives his ideas on Tragedy and the tragic hero, elements of modernism that can be found in his play Death of a Salesman. David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross is a play that showcases the characteristics Klages writes in her paper that are found in Postmodernism works. Although both Miller and Mamet’s plays deal with salesmen and the troubles of capitalism brought forth in such a stressful and competitive field, the way each author tells their story sets each work apart and categorizes it into a Modernism or Postmodernism category.