20th+Century+Literary+Movements

=**20th Century Literary Movements**=



Modernism
The 20th century is also referred to as Modernism or the New Age 20th Century. The literary movements during this time started to expand from traditional modes to more new forms of writing literature. Many authors in the 20th century would write about WWI and WWII. As a result of these tragedies, a lot of good literature was created. Authors would write about other themes that did not have to deal with the war. Some of the major themes during the modernism time period included attack on the notion of hierarchy and new forms of narration. One of the newest forms of narrative writing that emerged during this time period was stream of consciousness. After modernist movement writing was developed more over time, there were key elements that could be picked up on. The key elements are experimentation, anti-realism, individualism and a stress on the cerebral rather than emotive aspects. Modernist writing is very diverse and complex which makes it good to study and interpret.

[|Modernist literature] [|literary form of Modernism] [|Modernism] [|Modernist Art Movements] [|Modernism in literature and history] [|literary modernism]



Authors, Books and Poems from the 20th Century
There were many different authors that wrote during the 20th century. These authors would write a various assortment of literature. Poetry was written by many people who all had different ideas but there was also major novels that were written during this time. Some of the people who wrote during this time include T.S. Eliot, William Butler Yeats, Virginia Woolf, and Thomas Hardy. Other authors can be seen on the 20th century Authors site. Authors would often write poetry to express their feelings about what was going on as a result of the war. Because authors started experimenting with new topics, people started regulating books read.

[|20th Century Authors] [|Top 10 American Poems of the 20th Century] [|Top 10 Banned Books of the 20th Century]

"The Wasteland" By T.S. Eliot April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade, And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.



Images of the 20th Century
These links show images of various things during the 20th Century and help to get a feel of what the time was like and how that time period and what was going on in the world directly affected the literature of the time. The pictures just show how during this time there was so much destuction that the literature reflected that destruction that had taken place. [|poster for war] [|soldiers] [|destruction] [|"The Wasteland"]

Major Literary Ideas
The major literary ideas during this time included the wars that had taken place. They reflected what was going on during current times and the literature was a way for people to express their emotions and what was going on in their lives. Many of the most popular literature written during this time reflected what had gone on during the war. For example "The Wasteland" talks about how the times were gloomy and there was not much to live for because of all the destruction. Other literature discussed the ideas of the government invading too much in peoples lives. The major novel that talked about this idea was "1984". It discussed the idea that big brother is always watching and how in the future it would only get worse. The major literary ideas that were discussed included corruption by the government and the war. Many books were actually banned during this time because of the new ideas and the pain that they presented. For example "Farenheit 451" was one book that was banned and it wrote about suffering of people. "The sun burnt every day. It burnt Time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burnt things with the firemen and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything burnt!" (Bradbury).

Never before have the conditions of life changed so swiftly and enormously as they have… in the last fifty years. We have been carried along… [and] we are only now beginning to realize the force and strength of the storm of change that has come upon us.

H .G. Wells, 1933

Scavenger Hunt
1) What are three formal characteristics of modernism? [|formal characteristics] 2) What is modernism? [|modernism] 3) What is the number one American poem of the 20th century and what type of mood does it have? [|poem] 4) What was written by many authors during the 20th Century? see authors, books and poetry paragraph 5) What was one of the newest forms of narrative writing that emerged during the 20th century? see modernism paragraph

Katie Worsdale