Saturday, February 4, 2017
Modernism
In doing research on Modernism, it was interesting to discover how significant both WWI and WWII were on the writings of the time. It seems as though the period prior was filled with optimism and nationalism. However, after the wars, people began to distrust and resent the government and take solace in releasing their emotions of anger, frustration, and resentment in their narratives. Stories began to focus on the POV of stream of consciousness and the psychological aspects of the human mind. Freud and Einstein were two impactful men who spearheaded some of the major characteristics that now are defining components of Modernism.
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The era of modernism marked a complete shift from the atmosphere of the previous period. I agree with Brooke in that the mood changed with the events of WWI and WWII. It seems like most of the subject matter is bleak or sorrowful. Besides just the subject matter, the details that writers use seem to be darker, for example in Baudelaire's poem "To the Reader." Modernism definitely was a completely different era from the period filled with optimism and advance.
Modernism also became a time of technological change and emphasized a time of mistrust for the government. Mass destruction never before seen in these wars shocked everyone and caused the lack of trust. Weapons of mass destruction such as atomic bombs were created during this time an had the potential to wipe out the human race which of course caused people to be on edge. Beatnik poetry and other anti war movements spread an will forever be remembered in history.
I think a lot of the discontent with WWI was with the fact that war was fought for dumb disputes between leaders while warfare had advanced to the point where it was very traumatic for soldiers to fight. Weapons were more advanced, and millions upon millions of people died, including civilians. Unlike WWII, there wasn't really a clear goal with WWI.
This time period also gave writers a lot to critique. Since WW1 really did not have a real purpose other than settling disputes between leaders, many people felt disdain and anger towards their government and were worried about the future of humanity. As a result, writers began to use irony, satire, and stream of consciousness to critique society. WW2, even though it had a purpose, it's brutality continued to make people question their faith in humanity, worsening the feeling of dispair amongst modernists.
WWI was a complete change in how war was fought. With the introduction of new technologies and war tactics, it was one of the most deadliest wars people could even imagine at that time. People were so excited about new technology and industrialization, but the war showed people the down side to it. The mass casualties due to technology scared people. I think this is why a lot of writers of the time had so much angst towards technology.
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