Modernism An Overview Title: Aug 29 8:46 PM (1 of 19)
Seeds in Middle Ages Word modernus appears from Latin, modo, for recently or just now. Moderns of the 12th century challenged classic ideas about poetry and philosophy. Title: Aug 29 8:46 PM (2 of 19)
Linear Time Time is linear Time constantly moves forward (inexorably) Unrepeatable What do we do when we recognize this attribute of time? Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (3 of 19)
Historical Influences Darwin (1859), Marx (1867), Nietzsche (1882), Freud (1900), Einstein (1916) End of Victorianism Shift from rural, agricultural society to an urban industrial one WORLD WARS I and II no turning back Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (4 of 19)
People Needed a New Way To Understand and Explain the Reality They Experiencing Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (5 of 19)
Artistic Influences Monet (Impressionism) Van Gogh, Picasso, Kandinsky (Post Impressionism) Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (6 of 19)
Poetic Influences Poetry Magazine (Chicago 1912) Reaction to Romanticism Rejected old forms (high diction, regular meter) Change from abstract ideas to concrete everyday experience Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (7 of 19)
Romantic vs Modern The Definition of Love By Andrew Marvell (1681) At the B By William Carlo My love is of a birth as rarethe crowd at the ball game As tis for object, strange and is moved high uniformly It was begotten by Despair by a spirit of uselessness Upon Impossiblility which delights them All the exciting detail of the chase Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (8 of 19)
Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (9 of 19) Stages of Modernism
Questions and Problems The past was devoted to answers; the modern period confines itself to questions. The true question, the one alone worth asking, cannot and need not be answered; it need only be asked over and over again, forever in new ways. A modernist culture is committed to the view that the human lot is inescapably problematic. Irving Howe Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (10 of 19)
Joy in the Problematic The problematic is adhered to because it comes to be considered good, proper, and even beautiful that men should live in discomfort. Objection evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology. Truth has never yet hung on the arm of an absolute. Friedrich Nietzsche Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (11 of 19)
Attributes of the Modern Religious certainty and moral absolutes are replaced by skepticism and doubt. adapted from Irving Howe Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (12 of 19)
Attributes of the Modern Alienation from what is seen as a corrupt, mediocre, and hypocritical society. adapted from Irving Howe Subjectivity: the nature of truth and the difficulty of separating reality from impression Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (13 of 19)
Attributes of the Modern adapted from Irving Howe Alienation of the comforts of religion humans become homeless in the universe Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (14 of 19)
Attributes of the Modern Increasing doubt as to the value of rational thought adapted from Irving Howe Because of moral uncertainties, people must boldly experiment to create a new self, a new art, a new society Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (15 of 19)
Attributes of the Modern adapted from Irving Howe Growing doubt and increased questioning of the purpose of life (particularly the pain) Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (16 of 19)
Attributes of the Modern adapted from Irving Howe Modernism is a cultural outlook that views human existence is profoundly and inherently problematic. Humans are caught in a constant struggle to recreate the world without the help of past wisdom. Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (17 of 19)
Challenge and Joy Modernists thought of themselves as optimists because they were recreating the world through a new understanding. The human process of questioning and challenging ideas is enriching and ultimately can bring joy. Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (18 of 19)
Sources Barbour, Scott, ed. American Modernism. San Diego: GreenhavenPress, Inc, 1987. Calinescu, Matei. Five Faces of Modernity: Modernism, Avant Garde, Decadence, Kitcsh, Postmodernism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1987. Howe, Irving. Modernism. handout from Mrs. Singer Title: Aug 29 8:47 PM (19 of 19)