1. Modernist Poetry

2. Ezra Pound’s IMAGIST MANIFESTO 1913
Wanted to liberate poetry from restrictive rhythms + to use FREE VERSE
Concentrated on JUXTAPOSITION of IMAGES+ on ECONOMY of WORDS
Poet as a MEDIUM not a personality
Importance of FORM
Replaced the content with a new ALOGICAL FLUX of THOUGHTS+SENSATIONS
EUROPEAN in STYLE+SENSIBILITY, revealing influences from FUTURISM, DADAISM +SYMBOLISM among other European traditions

3. Same THEMES in poetry and prose
HISTORY + MYTH. Joyce’s character S. Dedalus saw history as a nightmare. M. poets saw HISTORY as MEANINGLESS CHAOS
One way to “rationalize” chaos was to USE MYTHS. Ancient myths could be successfully projected onto a modern landscape to create a profound statement of meaning
CITY. M. poets rejected pastoral themes replacing them with urban ones. London as the image of spiritual, social+cultural decline of the interwar years

4. FRAGMENTATION of CULTURE
Elements of past and foreign literature entered the poem in the form of REFERENCE or QUOTATION. These resemble fragments or clues to meaning, difficult for the average reader.
Foreign or classical references + quotations were juxtaposed with common, modern speech. So this help the idea that “culture” was a confusion of tiny pieces

5. FRAGMENTATION of SELF
“I” was replaced by a fragmented, unstable, unreliable SELF, not dominated by “will”, but by instinct