9) American Modernism in poetry

Examples of American Modernism in poetry

- Langston Hughes - I, too
Ezra Pound - With Usura
Robert Frost - Mending Wall, The road not taken
Sylvia Plath - The Applicant
Thomas Stearns Eliot - Hollow Men

Key Features
- departure from traditional forms, experimentation
- new themes and techniques, reflecting complexities and
uncertainties of the early to mid-20th century
- themes of alienation, isolation and individual experience
- exploration of inner self, psycholigcally deep
- themes of urbanization and modernity (technical sphere)- "the city"
is used as a recurring motif, symbolizing opportunity and alienation
- rejection of idealism and emotional excess of romanticism
Use of expression that goes beyond their literal interpretation (metaphors,
simile, hyperbole, irony), symbolic imaginery (symbols-allegories- have a
hidden meaning, typically moral or spiritual)

Langston Hughes - I, Too

- black author, wrote during the Harlem renaissance (a period of vibrat
afAm cultural and artistic expression)
- poems strong with racial pride, identity and resilience
- poem is a statement about racial equality and asserts speaker's
rightful place in american society
- an african american who is "the dark brother" sent to eat in the
kitchen states "Tomorrow I'll be at the table when the company
comes" showing the man's hope and determination to each the
future where he will be equal memeber of society (
Kitchen- discrimination, eating-optimism for progress and acceptance)

Robert Frost - Mending Wall, The Road not Taken

- Mending Wall - two neighbours meet annually to repair a stone wall
dividing their properties
- narrator questions necessity, ciriticises the
neighbor for mending the wall and keeping up with meaningless
tradition
- narrator is hypocritical, since he is doing the same,
without question
- wall symbolizes isolation, tradition that has lost
it's meaning and the human tend to isolate and put up barriers, vs
innovations
- poem, however, also states, that everyone has a
natural resistance to barriers
The wall- physical and emotional barriers that people construct to maintain
distance
- The Road Not Taken - narrator stands at a fork in the road, reflecting
on which road to take
 - he takes "the one less travelled by", showing
the significance of individualism and nonconformity,
- also show the nature of choices and
unforseeable consequences and regret that can accomnay
decisions..its inevitable

Sylvia Plath - The Applicant

- satirical critique of marital and societal expectations
- poem uses metaphor of a job interview to question the roles men and
women are expected to fulfil in marriage
- poem features a mocking and ironic tone, reducing relationships to
transactions

Ezra Pound - With Usura

- written as a part of his larer work Cantos
- condemnation of usury - practice of charging excessive interest on
loans
- uses repetition of the phrase "with usura" and other phrases to
emphasize its points, critisize the practise of usury and its effect on
society and culture
-usura-greed and moral decay

QUESTION (1949) - LANGSTON HUGHES (1902-1967)

● Literal Reading- a poem questioning the speaker’s existence and
future
● Figurative Reading:- about equality, value, identity, and meaning of
life
● Symbolic Imagery: The corpse - refferign to a body of a white rich
man, Torso - referring to a dead body of an African American, Death -
after we die, everyone is treated the same, why not when we’re alive

A DREAM DEFERRED (1951) - LANGSTON HUGHES (1901-1967)

● Literal Reading:- questioning what happens to a dream when it does
not come true
● Figurative Reading:- about the frustration and consequences of
African Americans when their dreams and promises are not fulfilled
○ Personification - dream runs, stinks…
○ Similes - like a raisin in the sun, like rotten meat, like a syrupy sweet…
● Symbolic Imagery: A Raisin in the Sun - losing vitality, resigning, A
Sore - the mental damage caused by opressing Af Americans, A Heavy
Load - the burden of unfulfilled dreams, it weighs you down, An
Explosion - violent outburst, potential revolt or one’s breakdown
8) American Modernism in fiction, The Lost Generation
Examples of American Modernism in fiction
- Francis Scott Fitzgerald - Great Gatsby
Ernest Hemingway - Hills Like White Elephants
William Faulkner - A Rose For Emily
Gertrude Stein - coined the term "Lost Generation"

Key features
- Early to middle 20th century- period marked by a movement away from
traditional narratives and forms, embracing experimental techniques, including
stream of consciousness, unreliable narrators, and fragmented structures instead
-Jazz age- prohibition 1920-33 (cannot produce and carry alcohol -> black
marketing, bootlegging illegal producing-> Gatsby made money from bootlegging
)-Great depression 1930 (sees things before they happen)
- Lost Generation - feeling of moral loss, aimlessness in American post-
war society
- lost = disillusioned, aimless (searching for meaning):
Francis S. Fitzgerald, E. Hemingway
- coined by Gertrude Stein
- they came of during WW1 and expressed feeling of moral
loss, despair
- themes - disillusionment with society, inner workings of human psyche
- failing facade of "The American Dream" - Old money/New
money
- step away from conventional narratives and forms, embracing
experimentation

Francis Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

- one of the most celebrated novels in American literature, piece of
sociology- probe into the 1920s
-modernism: flashbacks- jumbled chronology, different perspectives on
reality (Nick unreliable narrator bcs as a small boy was advices not to
judge but later says that he is one of the few honest people), untold truths,
references to various historical events, unreliable narrator, symbolism
(obliteration of the past- changing his name, working x middle class-
Daisy: old aristocracy (East Egg) and the new rich (West Egg), Gatsby-
tabula rasa-starting from scratch …
-American dream: self-made man- build yourself up from humble
beginnings in the past which eventually made him successful, …
obliteration of the past, rebirth-baptism
- captures the Jazz Age, set in prosperous Long Island of the Roaring
Twenties
-Am nativism – openly racist and xenophobic sentiments (Daisy’s
husband Tom), Daisy ironizes Tom,
(-ominous foreshadowing, flappers
- set in the prosperous Long Island of the Roaring Twenties, a period
characterised by economic boom
- Nick Carraway- narrator, a young man rents a house in the West Egg,
he is stock broker (burzovní makléř), meeting his extravagant neighbour
Jay Gatsby (changed his name from J. Gatz when introducing himself to
rich people and bcs of the past rumours and to sound more English),
known for his lavish parties - he becomes part of his inner circle and finds
out he is in obsessive love with Daisy Buchanan,(he perceived her as
a grail and felt commitment to her), Nick's cousin, and lives in East Egg,
more fashionable district - as the summer progresses, Nick learns
Gatsby and Daisy were together before Gatsby went to WW1 and in
meantime, she married Tom who is blatantly unfaithful to her -
Gatsby built up all his fortune to get her back - his idealism and
determination contrasted with Daisy's and Tom's old money
character
-Gatsby is born poor, severs himself from his family and background in 17,
Meyer Wolsheim hires him s a presentable gentile young man with a
military bearing, he earns a fortune as a gangster, dies, the funeral attend
only 3 people (his father), (integrity plus diligence inevitably lead to
prosperity – B. Franklin)
- decline of the American dream - the dream became corrupted by
the relentless pursuit of wealth

- The Green Light - Daisy's dock flashing with green light constantly
reminds Gatsby of his hopes and dreams
- The Valley of Ash - desolate wasteland between the Eggs, symbolising
the cracks in the wealthy facade
- Gatsby's mansion - lavish mansion symbolises Gatsby's facade he
creates to conceal his humble origins
- Daisy's white dress: Purity and Innocence

Ernest Hemingway - Hills like White Elephants

- his works often deal with unchangable nature of fate
- iceberg theory = used by Hamingway, theory of omission, there is
a deeper meaning of a story not evident on the surface
- Hills Like White Elephants - perfect example of iceberg theory in
practice
- in a train station, conversation between an
American man and a woman
- conversation is cryptic, tip-toeing around a
topic (white elephant - something person has and wants to get rid
of even at great expense)
- choices and consequences - the choice
of having the "operation" (abortion) has heavy consequences the woman
has to deal with
- gender roles in a relationship - story
explorrs the dynamic of a relationship
- symbolism in train tracks and alcohol -
irreversable nature of choice and attempt to avoid reality
William Faulkner - A Rose for Emily
- a short, souther gothic story featuring elements of macabre, death
and decay, necrophilia, mystery
- Emily, a woman afraid of change, becomes increasingly isolated
after her father's death - takes a lover, Homer Barron, kills him and
hides his corpse on her bed - when she dies, old, townsfolk explore
her home to find the decaying body and Emily's hair on the pillow
next to it
- Themes of resistance to change, isolation and loneliness, decay of
the aristoracy due to social changes
- A Southern Belle - used to show fading beauty

15. British Modernist Fiction

Examples of Modernist fiction
- Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Dubliners - Eveline + Ulysses - James Joyce

Key features
- age of younger generation who saw Victorianism and its values as
things of the past
- British Modernism influenced by several aspects
- WW1, popular culture (music...), psychology, philosophy
- uncertainty, disbelief, historical and religious doubt, disillusion of
the humankind
- living for the present, enjoying here and now - carpe diem
- Americanization thanks to the Jazz age and Roaring twenties
- hard to read thanks to experimental narrative techniques, exploration
of consciousness, break from traditional storytelling conventions
(fragmented narrative), intentional discontinuity
- use of stream of consciousness, allowing for deeper delve into inner
thoughts of characters
- use of multiple perspectives, exploration of identity and existential
themes
- heavy use of symbolism and allusion

Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf

- Virginia Woolf - suffering from mental illness, in a lesbian
relationship, focuses on single moments in ordinary people's lives
- other works - To the Lighthouse (Biography), Orlando
- Clarissa Dalloway, post-WW1 woman in England, prepares for her party,
prepared for everyone to feel less alienated in a disillusioned, shaken
world
- plot not so important - geat deal of repetition, all happening in a
single daay symbolism and inner processes of characters are the main
focus
- main themes
- character relationships
 - time
- existence in a disillusioned, broken worlld
- war trauma and mental illness (Septimus - suicuide, parallel
charaacter to Clarissa)

Eveline (from his collection "Dubliners") - James Joyce

- James Joyce - wrote only about Dublin despite life-long exile, love-hate
relationship with Ireland- Irish Revival x James Joyce and his love-hate
relationship ( a time where Ireland had to be presented in a positive light,
yet he portrayed it pessimistically, works were being refused by both
literary critics and publishers for a long time)
- pioneer of stream of consciousness
- Ulysses - a work using almost absolute strem of
consciousness
- the story follows an inner conflict of a young woman (Eveline) wrestling
with sense of responsibility, contemplating leaving her home and abusive
father to start a new life with her lover Frank
- themes - paralysis caused by decision, choice between freedom and a
promise
- domesticism vs. the unknown, Eveline's decision is
influenced by the unknown possibilities of the unknown word
- symbolism in setting - the setting of isolated person reflects
the isolation of Northern Irelanders
- major themes and motifs - ideas discussed within the work:
claustrophobia - not being able to be free withou feeling guilty -
like Ireland
threshold - about to enter somewhere, be in between
exile - wanting to leave Argentina
paralysis - “moral paralysis” of Ireland
epiphany - sudden understanding - sudden decision that she’s not
leaving
- a short story, stream of thoughts, inner monoloques, open ending
- psychology, retrospective narration perspective

she is the narrator, even though talking in 3rd person (she does…- i tis she
thinking it)
14. edvardian era
Exaples of Edwardian literature (1901 - 1914)
- Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
A Room with a View - Edward Morgan Forster
-both innovative writers- forerunners of Modernism
Key features
- short period lasting from 1901 - 1910, during the reign of Edward VII, commonly
extended to the start of the First world war in 1914
- transition to modernism - experimentation with narrative and point of view →
modernist themes and techniques, yet still rooted in traditional forms
- the era was peaceful, affluent for the upper-class, while the north and west
remained poor
- not as idyllic overall
- economic growth stagnating, naval supremacy challenged, Irish question
still burning and acute, women's suffrage
- literature used as social a political critique, realistic and naturalism of human
behavior
- a bridge between Victorian period and Modernsit movement
- victorian themes of morality and realism
-inner thoughts, emotions, multiple perspective (unreliable narrator)
- modernist fragmanted narratives and experimentation

Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

- Marlow, a sailor, recounts his journey up the Congo river to retrieve
Kurtz, ivory trader (precious for the usage of keyboards, believed to have
medical healing properties but it does not, and it was considered to be just
pretty) who descended into madness; he wintesses the brutality of the
"civilised" colonists and is disturbed by Kurtz's corruption; Marlow returns
to Europe burdened by what he experienced, bringing Kurtz back to
Europe
-The beginig strats with a boat that is in London (the opening does not
describes what is happening…). The text does not descibes but implies
and suggests how it make smn feel.
- He tells the story how he decided to become a sailor, how he he met
kurtz, how kurtz died and then he returned…- simple plot

- fictional novella (typical for [Link], relative simplicity of plots- not

much action), similar to previous works, such as Jude the obscure
- critique of European imperialism and colonialism, exposes hypocrisy and
brutality of colonialism (belgian [Link] congo- death for numerous people,
done in horrified way when he claimed the people are as his subject and
the area as his property…people were forced to comply…and he infored
his readers about that)
- experimentation in a form of framed narrative where Marlow's story is
told through another narrator, adding layers, fragmentation and
inkoherence- Marlowe observes the story and another narrator observing
Marlowe- double narrator story
- HoD avoids easy resolutions, moral clarity, criticises "civilized" society
and its justification of explotation
- journey to congo = metaphor for alienation and isolation - big
theme in modernism
River symbolizes unexpected path- going the river stream is life
-deep psychological exploration- darkness of human soul, moral
choices
-horrors of european colonialism in Africa, Rich in the amount of
questions, motives
Charles Marlowe – a storyteller, he tells us the story about him being a
seaman on a Belgian boat on the Arican river Congo (humanic, heroic,
generally skeptical about things around him - about imperialism), complex
character, trustworthy, charismatic, copared to bufga at the beggning-
spiritual meaning…
Mr. Kurtz- the antagonist, a smart ivory trader and a commander in Congo
state, becomes corrupted while in Africa, they see him as their god,
successful, but later on sick and mad (hollow at the core- not strong
enough), no follow moral court. His last words THE HORROR, THE HORROR
refers to his life?

John Conrad: not a native english speake, icorporated his experiences into
works- visited the Congo Free State as a captain of a steamboat in 1899,
from 16yo he sailed the world… his works are written from his memory, he
foreshadowed the following literature in a way that he incorporated
modernist tendencies
„bloody racist“
-Principle of his works: literary genre of parable (small story but big idea-
it is about more than just sailing, involves allegory, concrete story to
illustrate things), incolcnlusive endings and experience, characters in
extreme life situations, a lucid view of the human condition, time shifts

London, Brusselss, Congo…

People do behave differntly when someone sees them: …what makes
them evil: - GOOD x EVIL - behaving differently when removed from
civilization (to lack restraint, to lack inborn strength…
Irony, paradoxes: follow the behavioural patterns, foreshadowing (london
dark place…)

A Room with a View - Edward M. Forster

- Lucy, young Englishwoman, vactions in Florence, meets George Emerson
and his father; they challenge Lucy's conservative upbringing by
encouraging her independece, lack of pretention and rejecetion of class
snobbery; George and Lucy fall in love and kiss, but Lucy retreats,
confused by feelings and expectations, back in England, Lucy becomes
engaged to Cecil, a traditional man, the Emersons reappear; after internal
struggle, she breaks of the engagement and defies societal norms by
pursuing her love for George - they reunite in Florence

Lucy travels to Italy with her prim and cousin Charlotte → Lucy meets
George in Italy
→ George is free-spirited and challenges her conventional upbringing and
tells her to live a more authentic life → Lucy starts to think about her life →
questions the rigid
societal norms she grew up with
-end Lucy breaks off her initial engagement → reunites with George → Lucy
and George happy ending
- themes
- social critique of conservative worldview, gender roles
- individual choice and freedom - relevant to suffrage movement
- rooted in victorian morality and setting, novel however challenges
those norms
and is more experimental (modernism)
- blending of romanticism and realism, old and new sensibilities
Socil expectations x personal desires, following yourr heart
Her perpective on life while she was growing up
16. British Modernist Poetry
Examples of Modernist poetry
- The Second Coming - William Butler Yeats
The Hollow Man, Waste Land - Thomas Stearns Elliot
Cantos - Ezra Pound

Key features
- experimentation with form and language - experiments with free verse,
unconventional rhyme schemes and fragmented syntax to reflect the
complexity of the modern life, making it quite elitist
- exploration of consciousness - delves into the working of the human
mind, using stream of consciousness to depict fluidity of thought
- alienation, disillusionment, search for meaning in a rapidly changing
world
- symbolism, myth and tradition
- response to WW1 - trauma caused has profound impact on modernist
themes
- usage of multiple perspectives
- elitism, intertextuality, irregularity in rhyme and rhythm, blank verse,
pessimistic tone, apocalyptic vision

The Hollow Man - Thomas Stern Elliot

- vision of "hollow men", stuck and though dead cannot cross into the
realm of death, they are shapeless and struggle to reach fulfilment, the
fail to transform their motions into actions, alluding to Limbo, f
- "This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper"
- themes
- struggle to maintain hope - stars represent hope, but since stars grow
dimmer as the poem continues...
- concept of identity and individuality - people feel like empty voids rather
than personalities
- exile

The Second Coming - William Butler Yeats (jeits)

Modern British Literature era - one of the forerunners of modernist poetry
○ referebce to: aftermath of WW1, the start of Irish War of Independence – 1919,
Russian revolution (Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world….-communist party
connected with Bolsheviks, he was afraid that this will influence the whole world)
○ W. B. Yeats was an Irish author, wrote about Irish as it is smth glorious, 1904-
he helped to establish Abbey theatre
- poem about the poet's deep feeling of foreboding, talking about the
biblical event of "The Second Coming", a cataclysmic event, suggesting a
dark an ominous future with a force threatening to unleash further turmoil
upon the world, (second coming- Jesus?)
- concept of "gyres" suggesting humanity following the cyclical pattern of
rise and fall
- fragmentation in the form of short, disjointed lines and abrupt shifts in
imagery and thone - reflects the disintegration and chaos of the modern
world
- shows disillusionment with traditional religious values and rejection of
conventional poetic forms- hence irregular rhythm and rhyme, free verse
-visual imaginary (connection is images), allegories, traditional style, in a
blank verse, cacophony, allusion,
-2 STANZAS (state of world x doomed future)
-motives: pessimism, skeptical mood- not able to understand the world,
history- the great memory, apocalyptic vision, state of the world-falling to
pieces and its anarchy and chaos, religion- Christ
- Yeats also believed in the existence of so-called Spiritus Mundi, The
Spirit or Soul of the Universe, with which all individual souls are connected
through the “Great memory”, which Yeats held to be a universal
subconscious in which the human race preserves its past memories.
Perceived it as „common knowledge“, like a cloud where all images and
things culture related are thought…
Yeats, as well as T.S. Eliot, or Ezra Pound, shared a deep mistrust of and
disapproving stance on the values of liberal democracy.
Yeats wanted to create an undivided and compact impression upon his
readers, he wanted “the blood, imagination and intellect to be engaged
and cooperate in creating the meaning.
-connected with Celtic revival- The irish nationalist movement

-spinxs: the beast, monster in a shape with lion body…