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The Rise of Realism: Modernism & Postwar Period

The Rise of Realism: Modernism & Postwar Period . The Beginning….

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The Rise of Realism: Modernism & Postwar Period

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  1. The Rise of Realism: Modernism &Postwar Period

  2. The Beginning… • “I heard in the distance the loud cries of the newsboys, who came presently tearing and yelling up the street, rushing from side to side to side even more furiously than usual. I bought an extra and crossed to the Metropolitan Hotel…where the great lamps were still brightly blazing, and, with a crowd of others, who gathered impromptu, read the news, which was evidently authentic.” -Walt Whitman

  3. The Beginning… • First shots of the Civil War fired in April of 1861 during the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter

  4. The Response to Idealism… • The Civil War brought romantic idealism to an end • People found it hard to believe in the value of the individual and the power of the imagination when confronted with photographs of battlefields. • Writers like Melville (right) saw war as revealing humanity’s basic evil, not demonstrating the heroism and strength that writers like Walt Whitman found.

  5. Horrors of War…

  6. The Emergence of Realism • During and especially after the Civil War, a new generation of writers came along. • REALISTS aimed at a “very minute fidelity (loyalty, faithfulness)” to the common course of ordinary life. • Wanted to describe life as it really was • No fairy-tale endings • No last-minute rescues

  7. The Subjects of Realism… • People from the slums of the rapidly growing cities • People from the factories that were replacing farmlands • The lives of far from idealized characters (poor factory workers, corrupt politicians, even prostitutes)

  8. Individuality? No thanks. • Individuality is not valued • People are identified by and limited to their social class • Behavior is determined by forces beyond an individual’s control: biology and environment • People have limited choices and are unable to control their destinies

  9. Modernism • Term applied to a variety of twentieth-century artistic movements that shared a desire to break with tradition • Featured technical experimentation, the irrational and inexplicable, and the workings of the unconscious mind • Omitted standard beginnings, transitions, and endings to tell stories • Represented the complex ways people think

  10. Modernist Techniques • Understatement: de-emphasizing the importance of people or events • Epiphany: moment of revelation • Significant moments that impact life • Stream of consciousness • Constant stream of thoughts through the mind without logic; free associations

  11. Modernist Techniques • Anti-heroes: characters engulfed by indecision • Central conflict is inside the character’s mind

  12. The Lost Generation • Describes young people of the time who lost faith in the US and didn’t know where to turn • Themes of change, indecision and broken attachments replace stability, love, and heroism • World War I • Caused many writers to question cultural traditions and the meaning of life

  13. Silver Linings Playbook

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