Modernist literature known for its interesting break with traditional writing, it contents as well as narrative techniques, remains relevant. The topics and narrative techniques and the way the modernists saw, or wanted us as readers to see, the world is still very much the subject of study at universities around the world today. We learn about the emergency experienced in a changing society and about the way the modernists wanted to illustrate the truth through the use of fragmentation, symbolism and metaphors. Students and other readers may be forgiven for wondering if scholars of today, and decades past, perhaps read too much into certain literature in their readiness to reach beyond the words and, hopefully, find a hidden, obscured meaning. Virginia Woolf was aware of the enormous changes of the period, as she connects physical and economic changes with shifts in cultural and social relations. In her essay “Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown she mentions: “in or about December, 1910, human character changed. . . All human relations have shifted- those between masters and servants, husbands and wives, parents and children. And when human relations change there is at the same time a change in religion, conduct, politics and literature” …show more content…
Woolf’s experimentation has much to do with the time in which she lived the turn of the century was marked by bold scientific developments. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution undermined an unquestioned faith in God that was, until that point, nearly universal, while the rise of psychoanalysis, a movement led by Sigmund Freud, introduced the idea of an unconscious mind. Such innovation in ways of scientific thinking had great influence on the styles and concerns of contemporary artists and writers like those in the Bloomsbury
One of the film’s on this course was ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ an adaption of the Pulitzer- Prize nominated play by John Guare. Two theories that we studied that applied to this film are; Post- Modernism and Structuralism and the concepts; pastiche and collage, genre and intertextuality. I will be analysing the movie while applying these two theoretical concepts and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each in the conclusion. Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is connected by six or fewer steps from any other person in the world. Frigyes Kerinthy originally came up with the theory but it became popularized by Guare in ‘Six Degrees of Separation.’
Literary devices are techniques of expression that authors use to convey meaning to their story. When used with proper skill, these devices can bring copiousness and clarity to the content (Duckart). Certain literary devices can be applied to both fiction and nonfiction books. This essay will show how Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, uses symbolism throughout his novel to provide the reader with a better grasp at deeper understanding and meaning to his novel. More often than not, symbolisms are not obvious and are easily looked over; however, when analyzed in detail, they add new and important dimensions of meaning to the story line.
Tensions between all people, based on race, religion, and ethnicity, have shaped history and affected all lives. It is very easy to see that gender has affected many people’s lives and caused struggle. Women in history were viewed as an accessory to their spouses instead of being seen as independent individuals. From education to work, women were expected to follow the same path and live in the shadow of their husbands and male relatives. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a significant snapshot of the way women were treated in 1920’s.
It was a stormy night in the Murry house, and Meg Murry, as a result of having a room in the attic, is afraid that the hurricane may blow down her room, and possibly their entire house. That night, a lady named Mrs. Whatsit enters the house and claims that she was blown off course. Meg and her family noticed there is something unusually interesting about this elderly woman, and, as Mrs. Whatsit claimed, there is such a thing as a tesseract. Mrs. Murry’s face went white, and she wondered, how could she have known? In the book, A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle, this is the situation that is set at the beginning of this prodigious book.
Breaking Social Boundaries The era of the 1920s was a pinnacle time in American History and the literature that was produced from this era showcases the social change happening. This was the time of social upheaval where the people were challenging social boundaries. The values that had been sought after in the period before this were becoming less and else prevalent in the new society. There are many viewpoints of this time period so the literature of this time was very diverse and many works showed the changing cultures.
This use of logos shows the nonconformity Woolf has with the treatment women receive at the university and the food they are being served, as the plain gravy soup which was a transparent liquid with nothing to stir. This quote transmits the reader a feeling of disadvantage and injustice against women and contributes to the larger idea of women and fiction. Word count:
Literary modernism is a movement which develops in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The eartquake in the arts, music, painting, architecture and literature results in modernism challenging its essential elements. Literary modernism rejects elements of traditional realism or precisely chronological plots, continuous narratives, omniscient narrators and closed endings and introduces new elements such as stream-of-consciousness technique, fragmentation, irony, juxtaposition, satire, reflexiveness, discontinous narrative, random-seeming collages of disparate materials, omniscient external narration, fixed narrative points of view, clear-cut moral positions and blurring of the distinctions between genres. Along with Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Richardson,
Woolf makes a point to disengage with her environment. She mandates that she not allow herself to become too absorbed with any one person or their story. Instead she ought to treat each moment as a if it were fleeting, saying “Let us dally a little longer, be content still with surfaces only” (2) This is instruction is literal, Woolf believes that engaging with her setting will remove the joy from vapid displays of beauty. She even compares such an experience to a sugary diet, lacking in nutrition but desirable nevertheless (2).
Set in the 1920ies, individualism and materialism was on the rise (khanacademy.org, par. 9). The time period was also characterised by a post-war emptiness and cynicism (www.telegraph.co.uk, par.14). As such, the modernist story (Keshmeri & Darzikola, p 99) deals with loss of meaningful life, with the sterility and vacuity of the modern world and with the crucial
Woolf reveals modernist literature was about trauma not recovery. Septimus never recovers from shell shock because he never could give meaning to the suffering he experiences
In the poem, “A Hymn to Childhood,” Li-Young Lee talks about having fragmented individuality from childhood due to war. He is lost in perception of a traumatic childhood caused by war and a normal naïve childhood. Lee depicts the two diverged childhoods from his memory through the use of antithesis to emphasize the world perceived by a self fragmented individual. Throughout the poem, he consistently presents two opposing ideas to show what it feels like to grow up with emotional trauma.
Final Analysis Writers of works of literature have long employed various stylistic devices to execute their literary objectives. Some of these stylistic devices include – but are not limited to – the use of settings, theme, and characters. Furthermore, such works can be analyzed, understood and interpreted through the lens of theories such as Feminism, Post-colonialism, and Existentialism. The use of various stylistic devices in service of the exploration of various literary theories serves to make literature vibrant, richer, and much more useful to the society in which the work is produced. Through the use of the mentioned stylistic devices, writers are able to demonstrate links that exist between their works of literature and theories such as Feminism, Post-colonialism, and Existentialism.
By using casual diction, simple sentences, and well-known allusions, Woolf is able to shift the audience’s attention from the gender of the
After World War I, modernist writers caught a glimpse of the world around them and thought: “It’s all different now.” They noticed that whole nations were wounded. Men returning from war were trying to find their place in the world. Feminism was on the rise, women were earning wages, which took everyone by surprise, including Eliot as reflected in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. The themes changed.
The criticism behind Catch-22’s Post-Modern Aantihero The postmodern movement in the late 20th century opened plenty of doors to new traits to culture, arts, and others. Among these was literature, which had a more cynical worldview in its works. Its abundance in irony, black humor, fragmentation and hyperrealism became some of its most distinguishable traits which made it an enjoyable literary movement. With the postmodern movement reaching its high peak with Catch-22, analysis of postmodern literature became inevitable. Some of the recurring themes in works of postmodern literature turned out to be paranoia, minimalism, metafiction and twists on heroism.