ENG426:The Modernist Literature
The Modernist Literature
The Modernist literature had its origin in the years immediately preceding the First World War (Louise B. Williams 2002). That was the time when the changes in the Post-Victorian literature that have been discussed above really took place. The disillusionments of the First World War expanded the scope of the change that was already going on in the Post-Victorian literature. The modernist writers began to represent graver troubles than the experiences of people in the Victorian and the Post-Victorian literatures. The writers were spurred by the troubles that the First World War brought upon man. The beautiful landscapes that were being disrupted by industrial activities in the Post-Victorian periods were totally destroyed during the war. In the modernist literature, there was no need to represent or describe landscape since it does not show the truth about human lives and feelings. The representation of women changed and included the harsh experiences the war brought on them. They had become unfortunate widows, bread-winners, company workers, and individualised. There was no need to applaud great deeds of people, so heroes and heroines were not represented, and writers concentrated on the inner feelings of characters rather than their immediate environments.
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Because of the differences in the realities that the Victorian and the Twentieth Century literatures represented and the differences in how they represented their messages, there were differences in the literary works produced. The basic differences are as follows:
3.10.1 Fusion of Romance and Gross Realism:
Fusion of Romance: Romance is the form of literary representation which deals with unrealistic ideas by focusing on nature and being. It was the form of literary representation till the economic progression and new life experiences of the Nineteenth Century Victorian literature did not discard this form. It married the romance form with the kind of realistic life experiences people had in the period. This accounts for the description of environments in Victorian literature. The new experiences of the people which reflected in the Victorian literature included various economic reform movements like emancipation, child labour, women‘s right, and evolution.
Gross Realism: In Twentieth Century Literature, specifically, in the modern literature, there was total breaking away from romantic ideologies. Nature and being were no longer given attention. The writers believed that the truth about nature and the essence of being can only be found in each individual. Their literary works focused more on representing only practical realistic experiences of people and tried to provide insights into what the future of humanity will be with technological advancement.
3.10.2 Moral Representation/Idealism/The Narrator
Moral Representation: There was strong moral representation in the Victorian Literature. Writers asserted moral purposes. This became necessary because people moved from the countryside to places where industries were located and they were beginning to adopt new life styles. Victorian literature attempted to correct the attitudes of people in order to preserve relationships, societies and so on. The literary works of Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle, and Ruskin show great moral messages.
The Post-Victorian literature, that is the early Twentieth Century Literature, showed moral, but in the modernist literature, attention was not given to morals at all. The modernists had witnessed the First World War. They saw the decline of civilization and the doom that civilization brought upon human. Instead of morals, modernist writers represented how machinery and increased capitalism had alienated individuals and led to loneliness. The writers also preferred to show that life needs to be lived according to practical desires. For example, the happiness of Connie is Lady Chatterley’s Lover lies in living with a man who could satisfy her sexually, and she gets this vitality in Mellors.
In Victorian literature, there was doubt about the existence of a Supreme Being who controls the affairs of human. Scientific advancement had caused this doubt among people. The ideal of evolution was upheld by a lot of people. Then, it seemed like man
17
was recreating the world and was giving meaning to life through his ideas and institutions. But Victorian writers still exalted ideal life. They struggled to maintain that despite the new form of life to which the people were exposed, and irrespective of the questioning of a Supreme Being, ideals like ‗truth‘, ‗justice‘, ‗love‘, and ‗brotherhood‘ were still valuable. These notions were represented in the literary works produced.
Idealism: Modernist writers were no longer contemplating the existence of a Supreme Being. They believed that there was no Supreme Being anywhere. Their question seemed to be: if there was a Supreme Being, why could he not protect human from the calamities of the First World War? They represented the idea that men are only capable of creating machinery and institutions that can destroy them. To them, every action of people towards greatness will lead to their sudden destruction. Modernists considered people‘s feelings, thoughts, and perceptions. They saw the environments as deceitful, and saw the inner beings as where true feelings and thoughts can be found. Therefore, in modernist literature of the Twentieth Century, ideals like ‗truth‘, ‗justice‘, ‗love‘ and ‗brotherhood‘ were not valued as they were in the Victorian literature.
The Narrator: In the Victorian literature, the omniscient narrator is evident. The narrator always knows everything. In the modernist writing of Twentieth Century literature, the omniscient narrator is not evident. This is because, to the modernists, no one knows an individual better than the individual. The modernists represented the truth about a character as being in the character and can be perceived through his or her psychological dispositions.
Self-Assessment Exercise
Discuss the changes that took place in Twentieth (20th) Century Britain.
List three features each of Victorian and modernist literatures
4.0 CONCLUSION
Literature reflects life and every literary or creative work has an element of verisimilitude as it feeds on history or real life issues. Twentieth Century English literature evolved as a response to the realities of the First World War. We have opened this module and unit by looking at some of the socio-political, historic events and intellectual developments of the Twentieth Century and how they connect to the English Literature. As members of the society, writers are also affected by these events and their works reflect the changes that the world around them has experienced or is experiencing.
The emergence of modernist writers marked a significant change in English Literature because modernists attempted to free the writer and his imagination. For modernists, the traditional methods of representation are inadequate to relate the true life experiences of
The Modernist literature had its origin in the years immediately preceding the First World War (Louise B. Williams 2002). That was the time when the changes in the Post-Victorian literature that have been discussed above really took place. The disillusionments of the First World War expanded the scope of the change that was already going on in the Post-Victorian literature. The modernist writers began to represent graver troubles than the experiences of people in the Victorian and the Post-Victorian literatures. The writers were spurred by the troubles that the First World War brought upon man. The beautiful landscapes that were being disrupted by industrial activities in the Post-Victorian periods were totally destroyed during the war. In the modernist literature, there was no need to represent or describe landscape since it does not show the truth about human lives and feelings. The representation of women changed and included the harsh experiences the war brought on them. They had become unfortunate widows, bread-winners, company workers, and individualised. There was no need to applaud great deeds of people, so heroes and heroines were not represented, and writers concentrated on the inner feelings of characters rather than their immediate environments.
16
ENG426:Nineteenth Century English Literature (Victorian English Literature)
3.10 Characteristic Differences between the Victorian and the Twentieth Century LiteratureBecause of the differences in the realities that the Victorian and the Twentieth Century literatures represented and the differences in how they represented their messages, there were differences in the literary works produced. The basic differences are as follows:
3.10.1 Fusion of Romance and Gross Realism:
Fusion of Romance: Romance is the form of literary representation which deals with unrealistic ideas by focusing on nature and being. It was the form of literary representation till the economic progression and new life experiences of the Nineteenth Century Victorian literature did not discard this form. It married the romance form with the kind of realistic life experiences people had in the period. This accounts for the description of environments in Victorian literature. The new experiences of the people which reflected in the Victorian literature included various economic reform movements like emancipation, child labour, women‘s right, and evolution.
Gross Realism: In Twentieth Century Literature, specifically, in the modern literature, there was total breaking away from romantic ideologies. Nature and being were no longer given attention. The writers believed that the truth about nature and the essence of being can only be found in each individual. Their literary works focused more on representing only practical realistic experiences of people and tried to provide insights into what the future of humanity will be with technological advancement.
3.10.2 Moral Representation/Idealism/The Narrator
Moral Representation: There was strong moral representation in the Victorian Literature. Writers asserted moral purposes. This became necessary because people moved from the countryside to places where industries were located and they were beginning to adopt new life styles. Victorian literature attempted to correct the attitudes of people in order to preserve relationships, societies and so on. The literary works of Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle, and Ruskin show great moral messages.
The Post-Victorian literature, that is the early Twentieth Century Literature, showed moral, but in the modernist literature, attention was not given to morals at all. The modernists had witnessed the First World War. They saw the decline of civilization and the doom that civilization brought upon human. Instead of morals, modernist writers represented how machinery and increased capitalism had alienated individuals and led to loneliness. The writers also preferred to show that life needs to be lived according to practical desires. For example, the happiness of Connie is Lady Chatterley’s Lover lies in living with a man who could satisfy her sexually, and she gets this vitality in Mellors.
In Victorian literature, there was doubt about the existence of a Supreme Being who controls the affairs of human. Scientific advancement had caused this doubt among people. The ideal of evolution was upheld by a lot of people. Then, it seemed like man
17
was recreating the world and was giving meaning to life through his ideas and institutions. But Victorian writers still exalted ideal life. They struggled to maintain that despite the new form of life to which the people were exposed, and irrespective of the questioning of a Supreme Being, ideals like ‗truth‘, ‗justice‘, ‗love‘, and ‗brotherhood‘ were still valuable. These notions were represented in the literary works produced.
Idealism: Modernist writers were no longer contemplating the existence of a Supreme Being. They believed that there was no Supreme Being anywhere. Their question seemed to be: if there was a Supreme Being, why could he not protect human from the calamities of the First World War? They represented the idea that men are only capable of creating machinery and institutions that can destroy them. To them, every action of people towards greatness will lead to their sudden destruction. Modernists considered people‘s feelings, thoughts, and perceptions. They saw the environments as deceitful, and saw the inner beings as where true feelings and thoughts can be found. Therefore, in modernist literature of the Twentieth Century, ideals like ‗truth‘, ‗justice‘, ‗love‘ and ‗brotherhood‘ were not valued as they were in the Victorian literature.
The Narrator: In the Victorian literature, the omniscient narrator is evident. The narrator always knows everything. In the modernist writing of Twentieth Century literature, the omniscient narrator is not evident. This is because, to the modernists, no one knows an individual better than the individual. The modernists represented the truth about a character as being in the character and can be perceived through his or her psychological dispositions.
Self-Assessment Exercise
Discuss the changes that took place in Twentieth (20th) Century Britain.
List three features each of Victorian and modernist literatures
ENG426:Nineteenth Century English Literature (Victorian English Literature)
Post-Victorian literature was a precursor to the modernist movement. Discuss.4.0 CONCLUSION
Literature reflects life and every literary or creative work has an element of verisimilitude as it feeds on history or real life issues. Twentieth Century English literature evolved as a response to the realities of the First World War. We have opened this module and unit by looking at some of the socio-political, historic events and intellectual developments of the Twentieth Century and how they connect to the English Literature. As members of the society, writers are also affected by these events and their works reflect the changes that the world around them has experienced or is experiencing.
The emergence of modernist writers marked a significant change in English Literature because modernists attempted to free the writer and his imagination. For modernists, the traditional methods of representation are inadequate to relate the true life experiences of
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