The Evolution of Modern Literature (1900-1961)

The Dawn of Modernism

  • The Modern Age in English Literature began in the early 20th century, following the Victorian Age.
  • A key characteristic of Modern Literature is its opposition to the Victorian attitudes towards life and its problems.
  • Early 20th-century youth viewed Victorian ideals as hypocritical, superficial, and outdated.
  • Rebellion and Change

  • Modern literature was shaped by mental attitudes, moral ideals, and spiritual values that opposed those of the Victorians.
  • Everything was questioned; nothing was considered certain.
  • Significant changes occurred in literary techniques, artistic standards, and aesthetic appreciation.
  • Victorian values were seen as outdated and ugly by the new generation.
  • Questioning Authority

  • Victorians accepted the authority of experts in religion, politics, literature, and family life without question.
  • 20th-century minds challenged and questioned everything.
  • Bernard Shaw, a leading rebel, attacked both old religious superstitions and new scientific ones.
  • Shaw's creed was to question, examine, and test everything, challenging authority and expertise.
  • The Impermanence of Institutions

  • Victorians believed in the permanence of institutions like family life, the Constitution, the British Empire, and Christianity.
  • 20th-century writers felt that nothing is fixed or final.
  • H.G. Wells spoke of the transient nature of the world.
  • Bernard Shaw and others promoted questioning the basic conceptions of religion and morality.
  • Reaction Against Self-Complacency

  • The modern mind was outraged by Victorian self-complacency.
  • Social and religious reformers initially raised this complaint, followed by writers.
  • The idiom, presentation, imagination, and rhythm of Victorian literature were seen as stale and lacking magic.
  • Literature needed renewal to revitalize itself and regain its freshness.
  • Disintegration of Values

  • Young people realized that material prosperity was essential for social standing.
  • Money became crucial for scholarship and gentility.
  • Industrial problems and social consciousness grew in importance.
  • 20th-century writers studied Marx, Engels, Ruskin, and Morris, discussing societal reconstruction.
  • Decline of Home Life Sentiments

  • Sentiments for family life declined as financial independence grew.
  • Young people refused to submit to parental authority and found domestic life narrow.
  • Sex became more of an experience than a mystery, changing the dynamics of love.
  • Changing Literary Techniques

  • Modern writers could no longer write in the old manner.
  • They had to cultivate a fresh point of view and technique.
  • Scientific thought and mass education influenced the disintegration of old values.
  • Nature was seen as a blind, pitiless force, filling people with pity, despair, or stoicism.
  • The Machine Age

  • Machinery dominated every aspect of modern life, producing mixed responses.
  • Some found rhythm and beauty in mechanical power, while others lamented the materialism it brought.
  • Scientific advancements brought freedom and enslavement, efficiency and embarrassment.
  • The modern man lived by the clock, reflecting this in literature.
  • New Reading Public

  • The State educated a large number of poor-class people, creating a new reading public.
  • Publishers met their demand with cheaply reprinted classics and anthologies.
  • New readers, detached from old ideals, demanded literature that suited the new atmosphere.
  • Modern writers found power and income in appealing to these readers, sometimes exploiting their susceptibilities.
  • Lack of Common Ground

  • Modern writers and readers lacked a common outlook, unlike during the Victorian period.
  • Authors showed different approaches: lamenting old values, despairing of the future, or suggesting primitivism.
  • Some focused on sentiment, style, or diction to recover lost values.
  • Unique Nature of Modern Literature

  • Modern literature is unique, fascinating, and difficult to evaluate due to its uncoordinated efforts.
  • It is full of adventures and experiments peculiar to the modern age.
  • Although it started as a reaction against Victorianism, it is closely tied to the new ideas agitating the modern mind.
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