Modernist Literature Essay Example

In literature, modernism refers to an ideology that the reality of any work of art solely exists in the mind of artists or their audience. The notion appreciates human beings, besides capturing human's subjective nature in its raw entirety. The Modernist Period covers the time shortly after the start of the 20th century (Eysteinsson, n.p.). Principally, the period was characterized by abrupt discontinuities in the olden ways of viewing the world and interacting with it. Contrary to the era before modernism when individualism and experimentation received virtually total discouragement, the period after the 20th century saw these two virtues get more concern, impacting a series of cultural shock. Among the shocks was the Great War (World War One) which ravaged Europe between 1914 and 1918. The war came with such horror that people could not imagine where the world was headed. As the war continued, Modernism came in to display relatively robust rationality on cohesion among the various genres in art. Also, artists who adopted Modernism chose to do so deliberately, out of self-consciousness. As opposed to the Romantic worldview, Modernism harnessed the underlying structures, being, and nature, of the history of a society. Rather than growth and progress, artists who subscribe to Modernism see decay and alienation among individuals. According to the ideology, drivers of modern societies are impersonal, antagonistic, and capitalist to people's creative instincts.

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During its early stages, Modernism emphasized the need to break from traditions that seemed somehow rigid and considered the manner in which earlier generations as that which was heading to a culturally dead end. Ideologists who argued in favour of the theory suggested that there was a need for change due to changes in events that had possibilities to end the world in unknown territory. The theory also came up with a distinction in arts, where an artist would either be high, or low (Eysteinsson, n.p.). As educational reforms advanced, society demanded different works of art, that are not only diverse but also of better qualities. Hence, writers who declined to embrace such changes ended up locked out of the market. On the other hand, those who accepted the modifications flourished and prospered more than their rigid counterparts. Poets and novelists either survived or were left out, as a consequence of their choices.

Together with other works of literature, novels were not immune to the changes in the new century, characterized by reflective impulses, and self-consciousness. Narrators of the ancient era supplanted the unreliable, trustworthy, and omniscient fellows in the Modernism world. Unlike in Modernism, literary works of earlier days assumed the position of a reader to write their novels. Ideally, this made it easier for readers to relate to such arts. Instead of flat narrations, authors opted to use direct quotations to express their ideas. For instance, Hemingway (1) starts his piece of art by a brief narrative to create in the mind of his reader the setting of his work. He says, "It was very late, and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light." From his clause, a reader's mind creates a period late into the night when everybody had left the bar in which the old man was. Also, one imagines chilly and deserted rooms, empty chairs, and very little activity. He also creates imagery by describing the streets as dusty during the day. His readers get an image of a possibly dry town that has not experience rain for a period. In his narration, his audience also develops moods for a piece of art.

Hemingway (1) goes ahead to use direct quotations to highlight the conversation between the old man and the waiters, and between the waiters themselves. By this, employs ways to manifest different styles used in writing. For example, when one waiter says, "Last week he tried to commit suicide," readers get the idea of the use of flashback to show past events in the current context. And from the waiter's sentiment, Hemingway's audience step into the shoes of the waiter to feel the sympathy he is expressing towards the old man. Use of direct quotations in a work of literature gives readers an opportunity to play the role of a character in a context, and make appropriate judgments. As used by Hemingway, Modernism presents both the view of the writer on the one hand as the case is in the introductory part of the literature, and room for readers to critic the work on the other hand by employing the use of direct quotations. Towards the end of the work, Hermingway shows how hypocritical the waiters are when they refuse to serve him more liquor, leaving him with no option but to leave the premises for home, despite being so drunk.

Divergent from Hermingway's presentation, Mansfield (1) uses a narrating voice in most of her work to communicate with her audience. Through her voice, readers learn of her attitude and mood as per the context about which she speaks. She starts by giving her views on what the weather was like. She describes it as generally comfortable. In the beginning, she says, "Although it was so brilliantly fine - the sky powdered with gold and a great spot of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques..." (1). Her opening statement influences her readers to develop a liking for what the weather was like on that particular day. Ideally, use of reported speech in writing gives the writer freedom to express themselves, and by extension influence their addresses as well. From her description, Mansfield, other than praising the weather, she goes ahead to make her audience curious to know for what purpose Miss Brill's fur still suited the occasion.

Elsewhere in her work, she also uses direct speech, for example, when the little girl and the boy who sat next to Miss Brill were conversing. Mansfield wanted to show the boy's attitude towards Miss Brill, so she opted to quote the conversation directly. The boy said, "But why? Because of that stupid old thing at the end these? Why does she come here at all - who wants her? Why doesn't she keep her silly old mug at home?" (3). From the boy's speech, readers get to understand that the boy has a very little liking (if any) towards Miss Brill. He also brings the notion that he understands the venue to be primarily for youths as opposed to people as elderly as Miss Brill. Even the girl joins to ridicule Miss Brill when she describes her fur as looking like a fried whiting. Primarily, use of different voices, other than breaking the monotony, also virtually assume the position of the speaker.

Faulkner' work is yet another work that has embraced the idea of Modernism. Faulkner, like his fellows, uses both reported and direct speeches. Reported speech, as used by Faulkner, has helped him describe intangible substances and situations. He uses reported speech to describe how smelly the courtroom was. He says, "The store in which the Justice of the Peace's court was sitting smelled of cheese," (1). From the description, a reader gets an idea of what the room smelled. Also, readers also imagine how ungroomed the room is, considering that being a courtroom, it is supposed to be clean with fragrance. Modernism here gives Faulkner room to allow readers to use their senses to evaluate a situation. He also depicts the room to be kind of dark such that the boy was not able to see Justice from the floor of the room, but only hear his voice. He says, "He could not see the table where the Justice sat and before which his father and his father's enemy stood, but he could hear them, the two of them that is because his father had said no word yet," (1).

Conclusion

Modernism has ensured that works of art go with the tastes of contemporary generations. The theory has ensured that artists do not lose their audiences by enlightening them on the prevailing trends in literature. It also successfully confronted the former ways of handling writing by according freedom to artists who would have otherwise gone extinct out of irrelevance. Consequently, history has been able to survive turbulence in the world of literature. Modernism has also given a platform to talents that would have otherwise been dead due to poor nurturing. Since its creation, Modernism has brought changes in the face of creative arts. It has given life to many artists and still promises a future for many more individuals.

Works Cited

Eysteinsson, Astradur. The Concept of Modernism. Cornell University Press, 2018.

Faulkner, William. Barn Burning. United States Information Agency, Television and Film Service, 1977.

Hemingway, Ernest. "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (1933): 379-83.

Mansfield, Katherine. Miss Brill. Penguin UK, 2015.