This lesson introduces modernism’s break with literary tradition and its interest in a world where stable sources of meaning may have collapsed. It explores how modernist writers approach the self, reality, nature, and symbols.
Literary modernism emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It sought a conscious departure from established ways of writing in poetry and prose. Ezra Pound’s instruction to “Make it new” captures the movement’s drive to experiment with form and expression rather than simply revise inherited conventions.
All flashcards
Stream of consciousness
A technique that represents the flow of thoughts, memories, sensations, and associations in a character’s mind.
Interior monologue
A technique that presents a character’s inner speech more directly.
Imagism
An early modernist poetic movement favoring precise imagery, brevity, and free verse.
Late modernism
A label for modernist work published after 1930 or, in some definitions, after 1945.
Theatre of the Absurd
Drama that stages uncertain meaning, failed communication, and often repetitive or illogical action.
Quiz questions
What did T. S. Eliot’s phrase “mythical method” suggest about James Joyce’s approach in Ulysses?Answer: Myth could give shape and significance to the apparent disorder of contemporary history.
What does the fragmentation of The Waste Land help convey?Answer: The decay and fragmentation of Western culture.
Why is James Joyce’s Ulysses considered a landmark modernist novel?Answer: It uses innovative forms to make one day in Dublin and its mental processes artistically significant.
Who coined the term “Theatre of the Absurd” in a 1960 essay?Answer: Martin Esslin.
Why is modernism better understood as an international movement than as one national school?Answer: Writers adapted related experiments to different languages, histories, and artistic questions.
Based on the Wikipedia article Literary modernism, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.