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Modernist Literature
American Studies
Barnea/Knowles
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Refers to a literary and artistic movement that started in Europe in
the late 1890’s, then moved to America around 1910
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Often seen as “pessimistic”; has a sense of alienation, loss, despair
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Includes a strong reaction against established religious, political, and
social views.
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Modernism as a literary movement is seen, in large part, as a
reaction to the emergence of city life as a central force in society.
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New technology was being invented. Instead of embracing this new
technology, the Modernist writer saw cold machinery and increased
capitalism, which alienated the individual and led to loneliness.
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Instead of progress, the Modernist writer saw a decline of
civilization.
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Is marked by a strong and intentional break with tradition.
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Celebrates the individual instead of society
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Non-traditional styles became popular in literature
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Introduced unreliable narrators, plots that jumped around instead of
the traditional form
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Given what we have talked about so far in class, why would this
make sense?
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In other words, why would people start to feel this way?
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Modernist artists and writers often played with form-straying from
traditional and accepted forms
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The following is an example from a well-known modernist artist
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Picasso-Three Musicians
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William Faulkner
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American novelist and short story writer born 1897 in Mississippi
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Many of his stories take place in a fictional county in Mississippi
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Most of his characters are based on real people he knew
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Many of his characters attempt to deal with the South’s history
(slavery and the Civil War) and the uncertain present and future
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Faulkner won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and the Pulitzer
Prize in both 1955 and 1962.
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He died in Byhalia, Mississippi on July 6, 1962, when he was sixtyfour
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Considered one of America’s greatest writers