the first world war and the principle modernist writers, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica the first world war and the principle modernist writers e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE AGE OF ANXIETY (1901-1949) -The beginning of the 20th century was one of the most productive periods of all the time. After the First World War, a sense of fear and anxiety was born in man. These feelings were emphasized because : 1. there wasn’t longer certainty, because the conceptions of man, such as that of space and time, were distorted. (by Einstein) So the scientific model of before wasn’t longer sucient; because the science wasn't predictable. There were two type of time : the chronological(external and objective) and the psychological(internal and subjective) 2. all the values of the middle class was over (byNietzsche) 3. The object of study was changed andman wasn’t longer interested in nature or society, but in his own consciousness. (by Freudwho introduced the psicoanalysis). So the humanmind was made up of layers(strati) and in the first position there was unconscious, which influenced our conscious life. This layer was studied with the study of dreams. 4. Young proved the existence of the collective unconscious, indeed populations are dierent depending on where they live because everyone will have their own beliefs 5. also because of the 1st World War, indeed it left a great sense of disillusion. Those who remained alive felt that the previous generation, that of war, was responsible for causing it. Indeed an artist, Isaac Rosenberg, went to the Parliament and he said that the responsible for the continuation of the war was the State. He wasn't killed only because his friend said that he was crazy - Thementality changes so there was a need for new narrative techniques, so were abandoned the 3rd person omniscient narrator, the plot, the presence of many characters and was introduced the INTERIORMONOLOGUE (a narrative technique). The works told about the stream of consciousness( = the working of the mind of the characters). It is the content of the novels and it can be told directly or indirectly -this term was coined by a philosopher,William James.He said that “Consciousness doesn’t appear to itself chopped up in bits. It is nothing joined; it flows. A river or stream are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described” -SoModernismwas born → it was a cosmopolitan literary and artistic movements that violently reacted against late 19th century values. (le avanguardie). This included and was influenced by dierent artistic movements, their goal was to go against Victorian values and to create new forms and styles of art, literature andmusic. Themainmovements were: -Futurism -Cubism -Expressionism -Surrealism ➔ FUTURISM: which decomposed the subject to create a sense of dynamism in painting ➔ CUBISM:which fragmented the subject into geometrical and abstract shapes ➔ EXPRESSIONISM: which distorted forms and used dierent colors to convey an idea of anxiety ➔ SURREALISM:which gave importance to the world of the unconscious and used art to represent it -The principle features of Modernist works were: 1. the fragmentation of the narrative point of view and of the plot with the use of a complex narration and a multi-layered 2. the plot become less and less important and stories usually have open endings 3. the redefinition of the traditional concepts of time and place, which are subjective 4. the use of interior monologue narrative technique 5. the rejection of the traditional grammar and punctuation 6. the use of free verse and rejection of traditional verse forms in poetry 7. the use of complex vocabulary and concepts The first british modernist writers were: -Thomas Stearns Eliot (poet) -Virginia Woolf (novelist) -James Joyce (novelist) -The principal theme of their works was consciousness. They were intellectuals who experimented with traditional literary forms and tried to represent the self and the world. Many writers used the ‘Stream of Consciousness’. These writers were influenced by the historical events, such as the Spanish Civil War/1936-1939), the economic depression that followed 1929 and the Nazi power. -THE FIRST GENERATION: -Virginia Woolf and James Joycewere the major exponents of the Modernist movement. 1. Joyce used the DIRECT INTERIORMONOLOGUE → the direct revelation of the character’s thoughts without the filter of the author 2. Woolf used the INDIRECT INTERIORMONOLOGUE → the revelation of the character’s thoughts through the filter of a non-obtrusive omniscient narrator →James Joyce : he wrote “Ulysses” a novel, in this novel every character was associated with an imagine BIOGRAPHY : -he was born in Dublin in 1882 *All his works are set in Dublin, a city that paralyzes the protagonists. This city traps(intrappola) people with religious, political and cultural ties. -he belonged to the Catholic middle class. But when he was a child his parents lost their wealth -in 1898 he started to study at University College. -he met in 1904 Nora Barnacle, his future wife -he accepted the teaching position in Berlitz Institute of Trieste -his masterpieces are : Dubliners(1914) →a collection of short stories. There is a woman, named Emily, who is a victim of her father. One day she meets a man and they fall in love, so they decide to run away. But the day before she hears music, she thinks of her father and brothers. At this point she realizes that she cannot leave because she is tied to them(legata)and therefore remains paralyzed. A Portrait of the Artist as a YoungMan(1916) →a semi-autobiographical work. It is autobiographical because it speaks of the Jesuit school, which Joyce attended as a youngman. Indeed this work criticizes the limits and impositions that the Church places on young people, with rigid education. The protagonist is Stephen Dedalus, a young artist who leaves his family because he wants to live his own life. -he met Italo Svevo in Trieste and was inspired by him. Then when war breaks out, he goes to Zurich and hemeets Ezra Pound and begins to write “Ulysses”. -He died in 1941 POEM : ➔ “Ulysses” -It was written by James Joyce and was published in 1922 in Great Britain. It has been censored for obscenity. Then it is published in the USA. In Britain it was not published until 1946. -This novel is set in Dublin on one single day, 16th June 1904 -”Ulysses” reproduces the structure of Homer’s “Odyssey”. Homer’s Odyssey Joyce’s Ulysses composed of : 18 cantos 18 episodes protagonist : Ulysses -He is a hero. Leopold Bloom -He is a Jew *so he has no fixed abode(dimora