2. BASIC FEATURE
OF MOFERN AGE
General sense of
disillusionment with
Victorian era attitudes of’
• CERTANITY
• CONSERVATISM
• BELIEVE IN THE IDEA
OF OBJECTIVE TRUTH
“Nothing was considered as certain,
everything was questioned ’’
-The watchwords of this creed were;
question! examine! test
-to them nothing was fixed and final in
this world.
3. CARDINAL EVENTS OF HISTORY
‘BEAUTY’ is a currency system like the gold standard, like any
economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the
west is the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact”
Rise of
Feminist
movement
Emergency
of
New nations
Technological
advancement
The great
Depression
in America
World war:1
World war:2
4. MODERNIST THOUGHT
• Art had to be renewed order to revitalize it.
• Material prosperity had become the basis of social
standing.
• TheTwentieth century has become the age of machine.
• That man was more of social being than a spiritual
being.
• That industrial problems were already menacing the
peace of Europe.
• The twentieth century with overwhelming pity, despair
or stoicism.
5. SEX NO LONGER
REMAINED A MYSTERY
• Love become much less of romance and
much more of an experience.
• In the atmosphere of disillusionment,
discontent, and doubt, different show
different approaches to life .instead of
believing in cult of self-perfection as
Victorians did.
• They are ready to accept the duty od
working for others, because psychology
and modern psychological theories
influenced modern man.
6. ANXIETY AND
INTERROGATION
• The scientific revolution and rational thinking had shaken man's
faith in the authority of Religion and Church and the established
order.
• Heroes were rejected and the generation claimed unfettered
freedom of thought and action.Thinkers like Shaw, Samuel
Butler •andWells assumed the role of social heretics and
iconoclasts.
• Men and women showed an extraordinary enthusiasm for
speculation, experiment and reform Moreover, modern
industrial and technical progress has given birth to the spirit of
competition. Everybody wants to come out successful in the rat
race but only a few are crowned with laurels.
7. ART FOR LIFE'S SAKE
• They rejected the doctrine of "art for art's
sake."They evolved the creed of "art for life's
såke" •or at least, for the sake of the
community.
• The writers concentrated their attention on
the problem of modern life. So modern
literature is full of realism and has an inherent
purpose,The realism of modern age has
further been enhanced by scientific
discoveries.
8. IMPACT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ON LITERATURE
ANDTHE IMPACT OFTHE "INYOWORLDWARS.
• The literature of the twentieth century has been
greatly influenced by economic and social
changes.The disintegration of the village
community, which was necessitated by rapid
industrialization, and its profound human
implications have been mournfully expressed in
the writings of Hardy, •Jefferies, Edward
Thomas and others.The new economic theories
of Marshall and Keynes, who raised their voice
against poverty, changed the pattern of
economic thinking. Literature became urbane.
Marxism was the most powerful influence on
literature.Various manifestations of socialism
came into existence and influenced the authors.
• The first half of the present century was
completely overshadowed by two wars.The
post-war period was an era of "depression"
and of want and unemployment.The two
world wars, especially the second, had a
devastating influence on man and human life.
A large number of anti-war books were
written during and after the two wars. C. E.
Montagu's Disenchantment, Fiery Particles
and Rough Justice, Richard Aldington's Death
of A Hero and Edmund Blunden'sThe
Undertones of War, and the poems of Wilfred
Owen and Sassoon expose the futility and
hollowness of war.
9. INTERNATIONAL
CHARACTER OF
LITERATURE.
• The literature of theVictorian era was mainly preoccupied with the
condition of England, and was permeated by a spirit of non-violent
humanitarianism. But the literature of the early decades of the
twentieth century has an international characterThe Influence of
Radio, Cinema andTelevision.The development of radio, cinema and
television had an enormous impact on literature. In the words of
Edward Albert :
• "In so far as the radio brought literature into the home, in the form of
broadcast stories, plays and literary discussions and opened up an
entirely new field for authors, its influence was for the good....At the
same time it must be remembered that film techniques were the basis
of a number of experiments in the novel".
"The writings of nineteen thirties,
however, were as much preoccupied
with the condition of the whole
world, for air travel had made the
world appear as small a place as
Britain a century before, and
humanitarian hopefulness had been
displaced by partisan propaganda
which, by implication if not
explicitly, offered some particular
political doctrine as a means to
world salvation."
10. PSYCHOLOGY AND LITERATURE
Psychology and Literature. New psychological researches influenced
literature. Freud put great emphasis on the power of the unconscious
to affect conduct. Intellectual convictions appeared to be
“The Modern”
rationalizations of emotional needs.The growing psychology
exercised considerable influence on literature.The ordered emphasis
on sex behavior was completely changed and a raGonaI view of sex
relationship was evolved.The modern age may be termed as the age
of rationalization in sexual behavior.The rightness of egxual,u
nioiioíltside-• the pale of marriage was accepted. Sex was
B. Shaw in Man and Superman and Candida exposed the error in the
conventional assessment of the relative roles of the sexes.The new
theory of psychology and sex gave us "the stream of consciousness
novel." D. H. Lawrence,VirginiaWoolf and many others were
influenced by new researches in psychology and sex.
13. THETRENDS OF MODERN POERTY
• Complexity
• Revolt against tradition
• Love and nature
• Pity for the suffering, poor class
• Disillusionment
• Loss of faith in the religion
• The metaphysical elements
• Influence of music an fine art
• New techniques in writing of poetry
THE GEORGIAN POETS
• Rubert brook
• Wilfred Owen
• Ezra pound
• Sturge Moore
• Wilfred Owen
• F.s.flint
• James Joyce
• Allan upward
• Amy Lowell
14. MODERN AGE NOVEL
• It is more realistic
as opposed to
idealistic.
• The
psychological
elements.
• The novelists are
frank especially
about sexual
matters.
• MODERNAGE NOVELISTS
• James Joyce
• Virginia Woolf.
• H.g. wells
• Joseph cornard
• Rudyard Kipling
• John Galsworthy
• Aldous Huxley
• D.h. Lawrence
15. MODERN AGE DRAMA
• Drama of ideas rather than action.
• Expression of certain ideas which
they want to spared in society.
• Realism
• Drama become far more intelligent
than ever in history.
• Realistic conventions
• Use symbolic and anti-realistic
forms of representation for
aesthetics,political,psychological
reasons.
MODERN AGE
DRAMATIST
• George Bernard Shaw
• Oscar wilde
• John Goldsworthy
• Harley Granville
• John Masefield
• J.m.barrie
16. CONCLUSION….
• Modernism is a tough word to define, because scholars disagree on what it
means. We all agree that Modernism changed the way we understand our
cultural center and the margins--it redefined what is considered art and is not.
It is defined by new stylistic innovations and artists' self-consciousness about
questions of form and structure. Modern literature includes work that
celebrates the "sub literary," including everyday life, objects, and marginalized
voices and people. Some of it is politically engaged; some is not. Most
importantly, modernism challenges tradition, while establishing a new mode
of poetic expression. It is a "tradition of the new."