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Twentieth Century Culture. Mr. Regan. Influences on Culture. In the twentieth century, small movements in new directions from prior decades became dominant in many fields. Psychology, literature and art probed the irrational and surreal.
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Twentieth Century Culture Mr. Regan
Influences on Culture • In the twentieth century, small movements in new directions from prior decades became dominant in many fields. Psychology, literature and art probed the irrational and surreal. • Sigmund Freud’s discoveries had huge influence and implications. Freud stated that the mind was divided into the unconscious, the subconscious, and the conscious, and that people were driven by the id (instinctual urges residing in the unconscious), which is controlled by the ego, which is told to do so by the superego (conscience imposed by society). He also found that all memories were kept, in some from, and that repression of memories from the conscious mind led to neuroses. Freud invented psychoanalysis to cure patients of their neuroses. • From Freud’s discoveries, many inferred that greater candor in society would lead to a happier population (although Freud himself did not think so). Carl G. Jung broke from Freud and developed a theory of the collective unconscious (a common bond between whole peoples expressed in rituals).
Movements in Literature • Surrealism the surrealists applied Freudian ideas directly and believed art had to penetrate the subconscious. Both an artistic and literary movement, surrealism explored inner thoughts and dreams. Salvador Dali. • Other writers, though not necessarily surrealists, explored human irrationality. For example: Marcel Proust (who wrote Remembrance of Things Past and focused on interior monologue and the expression of the narrator’s feelings), Franz Kafka (who wrote descriptions of twisted fantasies), James Joyce (who wrote Ulysses,which told a day in the life of the average Dubliner on epic proportions) and Virginia Woolf (who was a political activist and feminist w/A Room of One’s Own). • In general, novelists turned away from the clear, chronological narratives of the past and focused more on controversial issues and the exploration of dreams and fantasies.
Movements in Art • In all the arts, the new thing was to shock the audience by presenting absurd things, etc. The Dadaists were excellent and this, and used their bizarre routines to infuriate the proper Paris bourgeoisie. • In painting, the Cubists and Expressionists confused people with their strange designs, often incorporating violence and amorality. This scared most people.
Advances in Science • By this time, science had become incomprehensible to the average person. It became increasingly specialized, and even though people generally knew the implications of the theories, they did not really understand them. Many laws were overturned during this time, as well. • Albert Michelson and Edward Morley in 1887 started one line of new thinking by challenging the theory that the universe was filled w/a substance called ether. Albert Einstein followed up on this (and then some) in his Theory of Relativity, which stated that space and time were not absolute. • Physicists were also finding a new understanding of matter. In 1895, Willhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays, and two years later J.J. Thomson proved that the electron existed. Researchers like Pierre and Marie Curie explored radioactivity and further proved the divisibility of the atom. Ernest Rutherford followed up on this by associating radioactivity w/the breakdown of big atoms.
Advances in Science • This led to quantum physics, or the attempt to explain why Newton’s laws didn’t work for subatomic particles. Max Planck challenged Newton in 1902 by showing energy was emitted in quanta and had many properties of matter, and in 1919 Rutherford changed an atom by bombarding it w/subatomic particles. But they could find no unified theory to explain the subatomic world. • Werner Heisenberg then came up with the Uncertainty Principle, which stated they really couldn’t know anything for sure. By this time Newtonian physics (in some cases) and the old conception of the atom had been thrown out the window. Science became ultra-complicated. • In biology, advances were made in the study of heredity and in the isolation of viruses (which led to new drugs like penicillin).
Popular Culture • There were many new technologies (such as cars, radios, planes, etc.) and lots of excitement in the 1920s. New and daring styles of architecture became popular, as did advertising. • The big new thing was the movies. Movies took full advantage of the trend towards distortion sin time and perspective. They also became super popular as well as very profitable. All sorts of people, from the rich to the poor, attended the movies, although movies became more specialized to each country with the introduction of sound in 1929.
When Sigmund Freud remarked that “in mental life nothing which has once been formed can perish,” he meant that a. human beings are rational creatures. b. human beings can remember and recall all experiences at will. c. all mental acts are conscious mental acts. d. the unconscious preserves unpleasant as wells pleasant thoughts. e. the unconscious obliterates excess thoughts.
Albert Einstein is well known for theorizing that a. atoms are stable, building blocks of nature. b. time and space are unconnected concepts. c. light contains energy only when it is visible. d. mass and energy are interconvertible. e. the speed of an aircraft cannot exceed the speed of sound.
Which of the following is one of Sigmund Freud’s most significant contributions to twentieth century thought? a. Spontaneous affection is harmful. b. Unconscious psychological energy is sexual energy. c. Dreams are unrelated to waking thought. d. Family life has little to do with mental illness. e. Each individual’s personality is predetermined by genetic characteristics.
Which of the following was a result of Einstein’s publication of the special theory of relativity in 1905? a. The quantum theory of Max Planck was disproved. b. The accomplishments of Pierre and Marie Curie were rendered obsolete. c. Basic assumptions of classical physics abut space and time had to be revised. d. Nations of the world immediately began an intensive research effort to create an atomic bomb. e. Physicists concentrated on developing a method of traveling faster than the speed of light.
The new physics caused much scientific controversy in the early twentieth century primarily because it a. led to the use of x-rays for medical diagnosis. b. inspired the first attempts to build an atomic bomb. c. placed Germany at the forefront of fundamental scientific research. d. challenged traditional notions of causality, time, and space. e. showed that God could not intervene in the universe except spiritually.
All of the following concepts are associated with Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis EXCEPT a. superego b. sublimation c. collective unconscious d. Oedipus complex e. repression
The painting is associated with which of the following modern art movements? a. impressionism b. postimpressionism c. Cubism d. abstract expressionism e. futurism
Sigmund Freud's theory of the human psyche alarmed many because it stated that a. sexuality was an unimportant element in human life. b. sexual molestation of children was common. c. humans were motivated by irrational drives, not only by logical thought. d. overstimulation by modern aspects of society was causing hysteria and neuroses. e. Humans can only learn by classical conditioning.
Which of the following best characterizes European art and literature in the 1920’s? a. Questioning of accepted values and practices. b. A rejection of atheism and socialism. c. A reaffirmation of human beauty and goodness. d. A resurrection of Victorian sensibilities and styles. e. Adherence to classical rules of composition.
Which of the following was a major new consumer item that gained wide popularity in Europe between the First World War and the Second World War? a. bicycles b. coffee c. radios d. televisions e. woolen clothing
All of the following became important new technologies in interwar Europe (1918-1939) except • nuclear power • kitchen appliances • motion pictures d. radio e. airplanes
A social historian would be most likely to research which of the following topics? a. French diplomacy, 1742-1763 b. Frederick William I and the General Directory of War, Finance, and Domains c. The philosophical assumptions of Montesquieu’s Persian Letters d. Napoleon’s Freudian relationship with Madame de Stael e. Family life in a French village
