Download Main Difference between Modernism and Postmodernism and more Summaries English Literature in PDF only on Docsity!
History of English Literature II Assignment By Muhammad Ashiq, Student 🆔 14216.
Department Bs English 3rd Semester Section “B”, Submitted to Lecturer Dr. Iftikhar Khan.
Main Difference – Modernism vs Postmodernism:
Modernism and postmodernism are two literary movements that took place in the late 19th^ and 20 th^ century. Modernism is the deliberate break from the traditional form of poetry and prose that took place in the late 19th^ andearly20th^ century. Postmodernism, a movement that began in the mid 20 th^ century, is often described as a reaction against modernism. The main difference between modernism and postmodernism is that modernism is characterized by the radical break from the traditional forms of prose and verse whereas postmodernism is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions.
What is Modernism:
Modernism is a movement in literature that took place during late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in North America and Europe. Modernism marks a strong and deliberate break from the traditional styles of prose and poetry. The horrors of the First World War and the changing ideas about reality developed by prominent figures such as Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, etc. illustrated the need for the prevailing assumptions about the society to be reassessed. Modernists experimented with new forms, styles. Irony, satire, stream-of consciousness, interior monologue, use of multiple points-of-view, and comparison were popular literary techniques in modernist literature. Championship of the individual and celebration inner strength, alienation, loss, and despair were common themes of the movement. The idea of reality underwent a major change during this movement. The reality was seen as a constructed fiction since modernists believed that the reality is created in the act of perceiving it; basically, they believed that the world is what we say it is. D.H. Lawrence, Virginia Wolf, James Joyce, W.B Yeast, Sylvia Plath, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway are some notable modernist authors. James Joyce’s Ulysses, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs_._ Dalloway, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land are some notable literary works that epitomize modernism.
What is Postmodernism:
Postmodernism was a reaction against modernism, brought about by the disillusionment followed by the Second world war. Postmodernism is characterized by the deliberate use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories. It can be seen as a radical break from modernism when we look at some unique features of postmodernism. Some of these features include,
Irony and parody : Postmodernism works are often characterized by irony and satire. They demonstrate playful, mischievous vibe and a love of satirical humor. Pastiche : Copying ideas and styles from various authors and combining them to make a new style. Metafiction : Making the readers aware that of the fictional nature of the text they are reading. Intertextuality : Acknowledging other texts and referring to them in a text. Faction : Mixing of actual events and fictional events without mentioning what is real and what is fictional. Paranoia : The distrust in the system and even the distrust of the self. Some notable writers in postmodernism include Vladimir Nabokov, Umberto Eco, John Hawkes, Richard Kalich, Giannina Braschi, Kurt Vonnegut, William Gaddis, John Barth, Jean Rhys, Donald Barthelme, E.L. Doctorow, Don DeLillo, Ana Lydia Vega, Jachym Topol and Paul Auster.
Difference Between Modernism and Postmodernism:
Definition
Modernism is a late 19th^ century and early 20th-century style, or movement that aims to depart significantly from classical and traditional forms. Postmodernism is a late 20th-century style and concept which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the deliberate use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different styles and forms, and a general distrust of theories.
Time Frame
Modernism was prevalent from late 19th^ century and early 20th-century style. Postmodernism was prevalent from the mid-twentieth century.
War:
Modernism was influenced by first world war. Postmodernism was influenced by the second world war.
Rational and Logical Thinking:
Modernism was based on using rational and logical means to gain knowledge since it rejected realism. Postmodernism was based on an unscientific, irrational thought process, and it rejected logical thinking.
Earlier Styles:
Modernism rejected the conventional styles of prose and poetry. Postmodernism deliberately uses a mixture of conventional styles.
eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. The poetic and cinematic play Peer Gynt , however, has strong surreal elements. Ibsen is often ranked as one of the truly great playwrights in the European tradition. Richard Hornby describes him as “a profound poetic dramatist—the best since Shakespeare“. He influenced other playwrights and novelists such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, and Eugene O’Neill. Many critics consider him the greatest playwright since Shakespeare. Ibsen wrote his plays in Dano-Norwegian (the common written language of Denmark and Norway) and they were published by the Danish publisher Gyldendal. Although most of his plays are set in Norway— often in places reminiscent of Skien, the port town where he grew up—Ibsen lived for 27 years in Italy and Germany, and rarely visited Norway during his most productive years. Born into a merchant family connected to the patriciate of Skien, his dramas were shaped by his family background. He was the father of Prime Minister Sigurd Ibsen.
GB Show:
--- modern dramatist 1856–1950, Irish playwright and critic. He revolutionized the Victorian stage, then dominated by artificial melodramas, by presenting vigorous dramas of ideas. In 1925 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The intellectual and social seriousness of his ideas, his effusive, literary dialogue, and his invention of new genres such as the discussion play were pivotal contributions to the modernization of drama.
Major Works:
❖ His early plays were mainly concerned with social problems and directed towards the criticism of the contemporary social, economic, moral and religious evils. ❖ Widowers' House is a grotesquely realistic exposure of slum landlordism ❖ Mrs. Warren's Profession is a play about the economic oppression of women
E.M Forester:
Edward Morgan Forster (January 1, 1879 – June 7, 1970) was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is most famous for his novels. Forster is also known for a creed of life which can be summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End, "Only connect." Forster's two most noted works, A Passage to India and Howards End, explore the irreconcilability of class differences. This problem is somewhat mitigated by his use of mysticism, for which he has been criticized. Forster's humanistic ideas recognize the difficulties of overcoming class differences, but he introduces a mystical element to help resolve these problems. Some of his characters, such as Mrs. Wilcox in Howards End and Mrs. Moore in A Passage to India have a mystical link with the past and are able somehow to connect with people from beyond their own circles, reconciling the "irreconcilable" class differences only through a spiritual deus ex machina.
Joseph Conrad:
Who Is Joseph Conrad?
Joseph Conrad was a 20th Century English novelist and short story writer. He achieved enormous popularity among British audiences for his tales of seafaring and adventure, which took inspiration from his own life and travels in the merchant marine. While the books gained their popularity for their subject matter, Conrad's work often explored deeper psychological themes of good vs. evil. cast through the lens of both society and the inner consciousness. Furthermore, there was an element of social critique in Conrad's work. Critics have pointed to the socio-political greatness of Conrad's works that go far beyond their fame as adventure stories. Conrad often critiqued many of the systems/structures of capitalism, industrialism, and colonialism , the settlement already occupied territories by Western domination, that he witnessed during his career.
main theme of the novels written by Joseph Conrad:
Conrad's novels often focus on the struggle between good and evil. This greater them is also echoed in explorations of social and political subject matter, including critiques of capitalism, industrialization, and colonialism.
What is Joseph Conrad best known for?
Joseph Conrad is known as one of the 20th Century's greatest English novelists. His novella, Heart of Darkness, is often cited as one of the best works of the century.
Which novel is Conrad's masterpiece?
Conrad's Heart of Darkness is often cited as one of the best novels of the 20th Century, for both it's excellent psychological exploration of good and evil, as well as its anti-colonialism themes.
What are the best known works of Joseph Conrad?
Joseph Conrad's most famous work is considered Heart of Darkness, but he wrote many novels before and after, including The Shadow-Line, Victory, and The Secret Agent.
H.G Wells:
Best known as the Father of Science Fiction , Herbert George Wells, better known as H.G. Wells (1866 - 1946) , inspired a literary genre and beyond with his futuristic worlds and imagined possibilities. Born in 1866, H.G. Wells grew up in working-class Bromley, England. He dealt with illness early as a child and throughout his childhood. For example, Wells became bedridden for several months, after an accident,
