American Modernism Late 1920s-1945

Modernism Emerged after WWI, beginning in Europe and then progressing into American literature by the late 1920s. After WWI many people questioned the chaos and the insanity of it all. The world’s “universal truths” and trust in authority figures began to crumble, and Modernism was a response to the destruction of these beliefs. Modernism

Characteristics- Fragmentation – in plot, characters, theme, images, and overall storyline. For instance, many modernist works are not in the typical linear sequence. No typical beginning, middle and end. Modernism

Modernism Loss is a huge theme in modernist works. The “truth” is questionable, as a common theme, you cannot always trust the narrator to tell the truth, whereas in traditional literature it is the narrator’s job to make the reader understand what’s going on. There may be more than one narrator, showing the diversity of truth. Modernism

Modernism The destruction of the family unit. Characters may be given little or no physical description, and one or more characters is usually an "outcast." Authority figures are often untrustworthy, reflecting the question of truth. Movement away from religion. Modernism

The reversal of traditional roles (Example: women doing something typically “male” and/or vice versa. Or the changing of customary racial roles). Ambiguous ending; such works often leave a lot of questions with the reader; they don’t tie everything up for you. Modernism

Often setting is more than just the setting (i. e Often setting is more than just the setting (i.e. more meaning to it than just where the story takes place), or, maybe there is no setting at all. The use of improper grammar to reflect dialect. Modernism

More sexuality is often found. More use of the first person narrative, reflecting the lack of universal truth, i.e. there are only individual truths. Modernism

American Modernist Authors Ernest Hemingway- The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, The Beautiful and the Damned William Faulkner- That Evening Sun, The Sound and the Fury John Steinbeck- The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row American Modernist Authors

More Modernist Writers Ezra Pound-poet T.S Eliot- poet William Carlos Williams-poet Langston Hughes- poet, essayist Zora Neale Hurston- essayist, novelist Eugene O’Neill- playwright Thornton Wilder- playwright More Modernist Writers