Modernism

1. Modernism 1914-1945

2. Historical BackgroundWorld War I • World conflict lasting from 1914 to 1919 • The second bloodiest conflict in recorded history. • 8 million died worldwide

3. Historical BackgroundWorld War I: Economic Effects • Boom in Technology and Industry • Competitive work force • Jobs for women (women’s rights; 19th amendment) • Economic Security

4. The Roaring 20’s • 1st radio station on air • Boom in automobile production • Radical change in women’s fashions (flappers) • General carefree feeling of security due to America’s growing economy • Flourishing film industry

5. The Great Depression • Began in October 1929 with the stock market crash. • Longest and worst period of high unemployment and low business activity in modern time. • Millions of Americans jobless, homeless, and penniless. Many people came to depend on the government or charity to provide them with food.

6. Modernist Literature • Themes • Inferred versus directly stated • Reflected lack of optimism, feelings of uncertainty and disillusionment. • Characteristics • Wide variety of new approaches • Fragmentation/stream-of-consciousness: omission of exposition, transitions, resolutions, and understandings used in traditional literature. • Juxtaposition of ideas, images, words, etc.

7. Modernist Poetry • Abandonment of traditional forms • Use of free verse and improvisation • Clear, concrete images (known as “Imagism”) • Use of every day language • Unique typography and punctuation (e.e. cummings, for example)

8. “The Red Wheelbarrow”so much dependsupona red wheelbarrowglazed with rainwaterbeside the whitechickens-- William Carlos Williams

9. “This is Just to Say”I have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe iceboxand which you were probablysaving for breakfastForgive methey were deliciousso sweet and so cold-- William Carlos Williams

10. Modernist Authors • Robert Frost • e.e. cummings • Carl Sandburg • F. Scott Fitzgerald • John Steinbeck • Ernest Hemingway • Katherine Anne Porter • Eudora Welty

11. The Harlem Renaissance-1920s – 1930s • Following WWI, many African American soldiers were disillusioned to find that their loyalty to their country was one-sided. • Many moved to northern urban areas in search of jobs and equality. • Harlem became the center of a spiritual coming-of-age.

12. Philosophical Divide Marcus Garvey W.E.B Dubois Sociologist; Co-founder of the NAACP; historian, writer Believed in desegregation and equal rights for African Americans in the United States • Leader of the “Back to Africa” Movement Believed African Americans should not assimilate to American cultural norms; rather, they should focus on going back to the motherland

13. Jazz Age • Duke Ellington • Louis Armstrong • Ella Fitzgerald • Josephine Baker • Billie Holiday

14. Harlem Art Aaron Douglas Primitivism Jacob Lawrence

15. Harlem Renaissance Literature • Celebrated racial identity and pride, group expression, and self-determination. • Documented experiences of African Americans. • Raised America’s consciousness of racism • Opened the door for future writers such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, and Walter Mosely.

16. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance • Zora Neale Hurston • Langston Hughes • Claude McKay • Jean Toomer • Countee Cullen • Arna Bontemps