Literary Moderism (1910-1945) 1
Period of Itese Chage Virgiia Woolf: O or about December 1910 huma character chaged. 2
A New Literature Ezra Poud challeged artists to Make it New 3
World War I Late 19th C faith i sciece ad techology udermied Techology i WWI: Machie gus Poisoous gas Taks Airplaes 4
... the immese paorama of futility ad aarchy that is cotemporary history. --T. S. Eliot 5
Hery James o WWI The pluge of civilizatio ito this abyss of blood ad horror so gives away the whole log age durig which we have supposed the world to be gradually betterig, that... [it] is too tragic for ay words. 6
Hery James o WWI, cot. The war has used up words; they have weakeed, they have deteriorated like motor-car tyres; they have like millios of other thigs, bee more overstraied ad kocked about ad voided of the happy semblace durig the last six moths tha i all the log ages before, ad we are ow cofroted with a depreciatio of all our terms, or otherwise speakig, with a loss of expressio through icrease of limpess, that may well make us woder what ghosts will be left to walk. The New York Times, March 21, 1915 7 7
From Hugh Selwy Moberley (Ezra Poud, 1920) There died a myriad, Ad of the best, amog them, For a old bitch goe i the teeth, For a botched civilizatio, Charm, smilig at the good mouth, Quick eyes goe uder earth's lid, For two gross of broke statues, For a few thousad battered books. 8
Hemigway o WWI First Editio Cover, 1929 Frederic Hery i A Farewell to Arms, musig o the words sacred, glorious, sacrifice, ad i vai : We had heard them ad had read them ad I had see othig sacred, ad the thigs that were glorious had o glory ad the sacrifices were like the stockyards at Chicago if othig was doe with the meat except to bury it. There were may words that you could ot stad to hear ad fially oly the ames of places had real digity. 9
Lost Geeratio Phrase coied by Gertrude Stei to describe Hemigway ad group of disillusioed ex-patriot America writers livig i Paris i the 1920 s Icluded Hemigway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, Joh Dos Passos, Ezra Poud, Kay Boyle, Ford Maddox Ford, etc. 10
Followig the war, a explosio of moder culture Jazz Harlem Reaissace Movies Radio Electrificatio Mass trasit Telephoes Airplaes Automobiles Psychoaalysis 11
World of Ideas Chagig as Well Art Sciece Religio Psychology 12
That s Not Art! Lodo Exhibit of Post- Impressioist Paitig, 1910 Armory Show (Iteratioal Exhibitio of Moder Art) opes i New York i 1913 13
Impressioist Paitig Claude Moet s Paitigs of Roue Cathedral 14
Post Impressioism Vicet Va Gogh s Starry Night (1889) 15
Heri Matisse s Red Fish (1911) 16
Marcel Duchamp s Nude Descedig a Staircase, Number 2 (1912) 17
Perspective i Literature Faulker s The Soud ad the Fury, 1929 Same story told from 4 differet perspectives A tale told by a idiot 18
William James ad Stream-of-Cosciousess Psychologists ad philosophers start complicatig our view of reality Is reality as straightforward as it seems (a clear widow or mirror) or just aother covetio, as artificial as ay other style? Stream-of-cosciousess 19
Opeig Paragraph of The Soud ad The Fury Luster came away from the flower tree ad we wet alog the fece ad they stopped ad we stopped ad I looked through the fece while Luster was hutig i the grass. Through the fece, betwee the curlig flower spaces, I could see them hittig. They were comig toward where the flag was ad I wet alog the fece. Luster was hutig i the grass by the flower tree. They took the flag out, ad they were hittig. The they put the flag back ad they wet to the table, ad he hit ad the other hit. The they wet o, ad I wet alog the fece. 20
Sciece What is Real? The Cartesia/Newtoia uiverse: Scietist is objective observer Does ot ifluece what he s observig Ca faithfully represet what he sees 21
The New Sciece Eistei ad Relativity Quatum Mechaics Heiseberg s Ucertaity Priciple 22
Religio God is dead. God remais dead. Ad we have killed him. --Nietzsche, The Gay Sciece Nietzsche by Much 23
Moder crisis of meaig Post-Darwiia disillusio Scietific cotradictios of Biblical history 24
Crisis of Meaig Explored i Literary Works Thigs fall apart; the cetre caot hold; Mere aarchy is loosed upo the world, --From Yeats s The Secod Comig 1919 25
From A Clea, Well-Lighted Place (Hemigway, 1926) "Good ight," said the youger waiter. "Good ight," the other said. Turig off the electric light he cotiued the coversatio with himself. It is the light of course but it is ecessary that the place be clea ad pleasat. Certaily you do ot wat music. Nor ca you stad before a bar with digity although that is all that is provided for these hours. What did he fear? It was ot a fear or dread. It was a othig that he kew too well. It was all a othig ad a ma was othig too. It was oly that ad light was all it eeded ad a certai cleaess ad order. Some lived i it ad ever felt it but he kew it all was ada y pues ada y ada y pues ada. Our ada who art i ada, ada be thy ame thy kigdom ada thy will be ada i ada as it is i ada. Give us this ada our daily ada ad ada us our ada as we ada our adas ad ada us ot ito ada but deliver us from ada; pues ada. Hail othig full of othig, othig is with thee. 26 26
Art Replaces Religio? Wallace Steves: I a age of disbelief it is for the poet to supply the satisfactios of belief i his measure ad style. 27
Psychology Sigmud Freud: Id Ego Superego Sublimatio 28
Alieatio People alieated from God Marx ad alieatio: workers alieated from their labor People alieated from each other: commuicatio ofte difficult or eve impossible Moder humas, accordig to Freud s theories, eve alieated from themselves 29
Hemigway s Moderism: Style Does t use streamof-cosciousess very ofte Yet, still heeds Ezra Poud s advice to make it ew 30
Elemets of Hemigway s Style Stripped dow, terse prose Dialogue (o tag lies) Psychological displacemet oto atural world Moral ambiguity (lack of authorial editorializig) Codified violece Iceberg priciple 31
Iceberg Priciple If a writer of prose kows eough about what he is writig about he may omit thigs that he kows ad the reader, if the writer is writig truly eough, will have a feelig of those thigs as strogly as though the writer had stated them. The digity of movemet of a iceberg is due to oly oe-eighth of it beig above water. --From Death i the Afteroo 32
Hemigway s Moderism: World War I Hemigway s ow experieces Soldier s Home The Su Also Rises Hemigway i uiform, 1918 33
Hemigway s Moderism: Religious Disillusio; Alieatio Harold Krebs Older waiter i A Clea Well-Lighted Place Jake Bares searchig for meaig? I Italy, 1918 34
Hemigway s Moderism: Romatic Disillusio The New Woma Brett Ashley i The Su Also Rises Girls i Soldier s Home Prostitutio From Life magazie, early 1920 s 35
Hemigway s Moderism: Order/Disorder Characters ofte search for meaig i a chaotic, disordered uiverse (feelig ma i a ufeelig uiverse) Hemigway Hero: Wouded physically, emotioally, or psychologically Driks too much Sleeps with lights o Afraid of dyig Yet, remais stoic; exhibits grace uder pressure i the face of pai ad sufferig 36