CH.5: MODERNISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE Flashcards
1
Q
Modernism
A
- artistic movement that grew out of the changing landscape of life during this time ~ began in Europe before reaching the USA
- represented the struggle that many had with the way new ideas and discoveries challenged their previous lives during a time when tradition didn’t seem so important anymore
- fueled by domestic shifts [increase in city life, technology and wealth, for example] as well as changes on an international scale [like WW 1]
2
Q
Themes
A
growth, prosperity, fear, war, death, disillusionment, money, materialism, “we are godless”, and psychology
3
Q
The Lost Generation [ coined by Gertrude Stein] & Hemingway made it popular in “The Sun Also Rises”
A
[1914-WW1] -patriotism, faith, and morality in the USA had fallen after WW1
- the young were left aimless and scattered without direction that led to purposeful life
- many of the younger generations no longer felt patriotic, content, or safe /breaking from tradition was a big part of this literature
- the past was idealized
- readers could sense a cynicism about life through the writing of the time / a feeling that the writer created a world that lacked the structure that a solid family life, religious faith or self-determination might give
