Modernism Essay -- Comparative Literature Essays Papers

Modernism Modernism is defined in Merriam-Websters Dictionary as a self-conscious break with the bygone and a search for new forms of expression. While this explanation does relate what modernism means, the intricacies of the term go much deeper. Modernism began round 1890 and waned around 1922. Virginia Wolf once wrote, In or about December, 1910, human character changed. (Hurt and Wilkie 1443). D.H. Lawrence wrote a similar statement about 1915 It was 1915 the old world ended. (Hurt and Wilkie 1444). The importance of the contract dates of the Modernist period are not so relevant as the fact that new ideas were implemented in the era. Ideas that had never before been approached in the world of belles-lettres suddenly began emerging in the works of many great authors. Two of the pioneer Modernist writers were Joseph Conrad and T.S. Eliot. The tendencies to question the incontestable beliefs embedded in all thinking and to taper on the inner self dominated. Old viewpoints were t ossed aside to make way for the discovery of modern mans personal spirituality. Two works that are considered important forbears in the Modern period are T.S. Eliots The Wasteland and Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness.One attribute of Modernist writing is Experimentation. This called for using new techniques and disregarding the old. Previous writing was often fifty-fifty considered stereotyped and inadequate (Holcombe and Torres). Modern writers thrived on originality and honesty to themselves and their tenets. They wrote of things that had never been advanced before and their subjects were far from those of the past eras. It could be observed that the Modernist writing completely contradicted its predecessors. The past was rejected with vigor and... ...hing, 1971. 37-66.Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York Dover Publications, 1990.Cox, C.B. Joseph Conrad The Modern Imagination. Totowa, NJ Rowman and Littlefield, 1974.Eliot, T.S. Collected Poems. New York Harcourt Brace, 1 936.Holcomb, John, and Patricia Torres. Modernism in literature. 2002. LitLangs. 6 September 2003 .Hurt, James, and Brian Wilkie. Literature of the Western World Volume II Neoclassicism Through the Modern Period. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall, 2001.Monroe, Harriet. A Contrast. Poetry A mag of Verse XXI (1923) 325-330.Rpt. in Studies in A Waste Land. Ed. Matthew Bruccoli and Joseph Katz. Columbus Merrill Publishing, 1971. 19-22.Smith, Grover JR. T.S. Eliots Poetry and Plays. Chicago University of Chicago Press,1956.