MODERNISM & F. SCOTT FITZGERALD NOTES FROM DON POGREBA, JEAN O CONNOR, & J. CLARK

MODERNISM & F. SCOTT FITZGERALD NOTES FROM DON POGREBA, JEAN O CONNOR, & J. CLARK

WHAT IS MODERNISM? A RESPONSE TO REALISM REALISM: LITERARY AND AESTHETIC MOVEMENT THAT EMPHASIZED ACCURACY IN REPRESENTATION OF THE WORLD LATE 19 TH /EARLY 20 TH CENTURY MODERNISM PUSHED BACK AGAINST THE STODGY CONFINES OF REALISM QUESTIONED OLD ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT STRUCTURE, THOUGHT, THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, AND SOCIAL NORMS

REALISM

MODERNISM

HISTORICAL ROOTS WWI DISILLUSIONMENT: LOSS OF LIFE, FAILURE OF THE OLD SYSTEMS OF GOVERNANCE AND BELIEF YOUNG PEOPLE QUESTIONED THE TRADITIONS AND BELIEFS THAT THEY HAD BEEN RAISED ON & BECAME CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENTS AND PHILOSOPHY

NEW INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENTS FREUD AND PSYCHOANALYSIS THE HUMAN BRAIN WAS DIVIDED INTO A CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS MINDS CONSCIOUSNESS: THE SMALL PART UNDER DIRECT CONTROL UNCONSCIOUSNESS: A STOREHOUSE OF FEARS, NEUROSES, SHAME, AND UNCONTROLLABLE FEELINGS. THIS LED THE MODERNISTS TO QUESTION SOME OF THE FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT ABOUT RATIONALITY AND HUMAN DESTINY.

MARXISM AND SOCIALISM CALLED INTO QUESTION THE VALUE OF THE INDIVIDUAL: HISTORY AND HUMAN ENDEAVOR WERE THE PRODUCT OF SOCIAL FORCES AND CLASS DYNAMICS. DARWINISM DARWIN POPULARIZED THEORIES OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION (1865) THAT CALLED INTO QUESTION THE CENTRALITY AND SUPREMACY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, UNDERMINING BOTH TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY.

PROHIBITION: 1920-33 IN THE UNITED STATES, THE PROHIBITION MOVEMENT UNDERMINED AUTHORITY FOR LAW AND RESPECT FOR GOVERNMENT.

IN LITERATURE ILLUSTRATES THE BREAKDOWN OF SOCIETY UNDER THE PRESSURES OF MODERNITY. CHARACTERIZED BY A STRONG SENSE OF DISILLUSIONMENT WITH OLD VALUES, TRADITIONS, AND WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT THE WORLD. PLACED AN EMPHASIS ON ORDER BASED ON ITS ABILITY TO CONVEY THE TRUTH OF EXPERIENCE, RATHER THAN BEING LIMITED BY ARBITRARY THINGS LIKE CHRONOLOGY. THE BELIEF THAT READERS ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THE CREATION OF MEANING. MEANING=READER + TEXT (A LA THE RHETORICAL TRIANGLE!)

OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY DIRECT, COMPACT WRITING THE SHORT STORY GAINED PROMINENCE AS AN IMPORTANT LITERARY FORM. NOVELS BECAME SHORTER, MORE COMPACT IN THEIR FOCUS EMPHASIS WAS GIVEN TO THE MEANS OF TELLING A STORY RATHER THAN JUST THE STORY ITSELF. EMPHASIZED CONCRETE SENSORY IMAGES AND DETAIL AS THE BEST WAY TO CONVEY EXPERIENCE. WAS VERY EXPERIMENTAL IN FORM

FITZGERALD: SYMBOLS SOME OF THE DOMINANT THEMES WE WILL EXPLORE INCLUDE: SETTINGS POSSESSIONS COLORS YELLOW BLUE GREEN WHITE DESCRIPTIONS OF CHARACTERS RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS

JUXTAPOSITION ONE PROMINENT EXAMPLE IS THE COMPARISON OF THE HOUSES THAT ARE LIVED IN BY NICK AND JAY: MY HOUSE WAS AT THE VERY TIP OF THE EGG...AND SQUEEZED BETWEEN TWO HUGE PLACES THAT RENTED FOR TWELVE OR FIFTEEN THOUSAND A SEASON...MY OWN HOUSE WAS AN EYE- SORE...I HAD A VIEW OF THE WATER, A PARTIAL VIEW OF MY NEIGHBOR S LAWN AND THE CONSOLING PROXIMITY OF MILLIONAIRES- ALL FOR EIGHTY DOLLARS A MONTH

FLASHBACKS REVEAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PAST OF CHARACTERS. FITZGERALD USES THE TECHNIQUE TO FILL IN DETAILS FOR NARRATIVE POWER AND FOR THE SAKE OF KEEPING THE AUDIENCE WONDERING, JUST AS THE CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL WONDER.

WITNESS POV ORGANIC ARRANGEMENT MODIFYING THE FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW TO MAKE NICK CARRAWAY A WITNESS TO THE EVENTS. MAKES THE STORY MORE REASONABLE AND ENGAGING, BECAUSE THE READER IS WILLING TO ACCEPT SOME OF THE LESS REALISTIC ELEMENTS OF THE NOVEL, BECAUSE NICK WITNESSED THEM. NICK IS POSITIONED AS BOTH CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE EVENTS TO WITNESS THEM AND DISTANT ENOUGH TO BE OBJECTIVE. IN A SENSE, HE HAS A JOURNALISTIC VOICE

TRANSGRESSION OF POV FITZGERALD OCCASIONALLY ALLOWS NICK OMNISCIENCE TO SEE OTHERS THOUGHTS AS I WENT OVER TO SAY GOOD-BY I SAW THAT THE EXPRESSION OF BEWILDERMENT HAD COME BACK INTO GATSBY S FACE, AS THOUGH A FAINT DOUBT HAD OCCURRED TO HIM AS TO THE QUALITY OF HIS PRESENT HAPPINESS. ALMOST FIVE YEARS! THERE MUST HAVE BEEN MOMENTS EVEN THAT AFTERNOON WHEN DAISY TUMBLED SHORT OF HIS DREAMS-NOT THROUGH HER OWN FAULT, BUT BECAUSE OF THE COLOSSAL VITALITY OF HIS ILLUSION. IT HAD GONE BEYOND HER, BEYOND EVERYTHING. HE HAD THROWN HIMSELF INTO IT WITH A CREATIVE PASSION, ADDING TO IT ALL THE TIME, DECKING IT OUT WITH EVERY BRIGHT FEATHER THAT DRIFTED HIS WAY. NO AMOUNT OF FIVE OR FRESHNESS CAN CHALLENGE WHAT A MAN WILL STORE UP IN HIS GHOSTLY HEART.

AMBIVALENCE EXISTENCE OF CONFLICTING THOUGHTS OR FEELINGS. THIS TERM DESCRIBES FITZGERALD S ATTITUDE TOWARDS WEALTH. ON THE ONE HAND HE ADMIRES THE WEALTHY, AND WOULD LIKE TO BE WEALTHY HIMSELF. ON THE OTHER HAND HE RECOGNIZES THE HOLLOWNESS OF THIS GOAL, AND THE EMPTINESS OF THE LIFE THE WEALTHY OFTEN LEAD

HEDONISM DEVOTION TO PLEASURE AND SELF-GRATIFICATION AS A WAY OF LIFE. THIS TERM DESCRIBES F. SCOTT FITZGERALD S ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE, AS WELL AS THAT OF SOME CHARACTERS IN THE GREAT GATSBY.