Modernism in fiction

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 464.

Ca. 1910-1930

Modernism

Gay 1920s

David Jones

· He survived the 1^st war

· Poem “In Paranthesis” – synthesis of experience of IWW

· Part of his life was taken out, destructed

Not many novels about 1^st War,

· The war is very terrible, it's hard to make a novel of it

· It takes time and paper to write a novel (poems were written on the leave in hospitals, in trenches)

Late 20ties Novels:

· R. Aldington – “Death of A Hero” – apocalypse, description/image of war

· Robert Graves – “Good-bye to All That” – his experience was an end to his previous life

· Merry, joyful, peaceful, relaxation

· People are happy to have survived, the war is over,

· Prosperity, before war world crisis

· The highest moment of new type of writing – anachronistic (form, theme) inappropriate, no much audience

· Modern – new & better, has sth interesting to offer, associated with improvement, progress, evolution, idea

· After 1910 most of modernist writers published their first works

· Diaries of Virginia Woolf

· Advancement in sociology

· Towns: no communities, people are lonely in the crowd, surrounded by masses

· Quest for identity (who am I?)

· New branches of science: anthropology (also about exotic cultures)

· Development in psychology (Freud)- our conscience life is the small part above the water, major of it is unconscious, there are desires and emotions we don't realize

· Einstein – theory of relativity

· Space and time were in the area of interest

WYKŁAD 17

· Modernist writers were quite harsh about Victorian writing (especially about characters)

· V. Woolf -> those naturalistic novels were quite good externally, but there was very little insight into character souls and thinking. There was nothing inside.

· Outside (in society, family, interaction, appearance) -à inside (what he/she thinks, feels, what's going on in their souls and minds)

· Concentration on character, not the plot