Download Twentieth Century Culture - AP European History -

Twentieth Century Culture
Mr. Regan
Influences on Culture
• In the twentieth century, small movements in new directions from prior
decades became dominant in many fields. Psychology, literature and art
probed the irrational and surreal.
• Sigmund Freud’s discoveries had huge influence and implications. Freud
stated that the mind was divided into the unconscious, the subconscious,
and the conscious, and that people were driven by the id (instinctual urges
residing in the unconscious), which is controlled by the ego, which is told
to do so by the superego (conscience imposed by society). He also found
that all memories were kept, in some from, and that repression of
memories from the conscious mind led to neuroses. Freud invented
psychoanalysis to cure patients of their neuroses.
• From Freud’s discoveries, many inferred that greater candor in society
would lead to a happier population (although Freud himself did not think
so). Carl G. Jung broke from Freud and developed a theory of the
collective unconscious (a common bond between whole peoples expressed
in rituals).
Movements in Literature
• Surrealism  the surrealists applied Freudian ideas directly
and believed art had to penetrate the subconscious. Both an
artistic and literary movement, surrealism explored inner
thoughts and dreams. Salvador Dali.
• Other writers, though not necessarily surrealists, explored
human irrationality. For example: Marcel Proust (who wrote
Remembrance of Things Past and focused on interior monologue
and the expression of the narrator’s feelings), Franz Kafka
(who wrote descriptions of twisted fantasies), James Joyce
(who wrote Ulysses, which told a day in the life of the average
Dubliner on epic proportions) and Virginia Woolf (who was
a political activist and feminist w/A Room of One’s Own).
• In general, novelists turned away from the clear, chronological
narratives of the past and focused more on controversial issues
and the exploration of dreams and fantasies.
Movements in Art
• In all the arts, the new thing was to shock the
audience by presenting absurd things, etc. The
Dadaists were excellent and this, and used
their bizarre routines to infuriate the proper
Paris bourgeoisie.
• In painting, the Cubists and Expressionists
confused people with their strange designs,
often incorporating violence and amorality.
This scared most people.
Advances in Science
• By this time, science had become incomprehensible to the average
person. It became increasingly specialized, and even though people
generally knew the implications of the theories, they did not really
understand them. Many laws were overturned during this time, as
well.
• Albert Michelson and Edward Morley in 1887 started one line of
new thinking by challenging the theory that the universe was filled
w/a substance called ether. Albert Einstein followed up on this (and
then some) in his Theory of Relativity, which stated that space and time
were not absolute.
• Physicists were also finding a new understanding of matter. In 1895,
Willhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays, and two years later J.J.
Thomson proved that the electron existed. Researchers like Pierre
and Marie Curie explored radioactivity and further proved the
divisibility of the atom. Ernest Rutherford followed up on this by
associating radioactivity w/the breakdown of big atoms.
Advances in Science
• This led to quantum physics, or the attempt to explain why
Newton’s laws didn’t work for subatomic particles. Max
Planck challenged Newton in 1902 by showing energy was
emitted in quanta and had many properties of matter, and in
1919 Rutherford changed an atom by bombarding it
w/subatomic particles. But they could find no unified theory
to explain the subatomic world.
• Werner Heisenberg then came up with the Uncertainty
Principle, which stated they really couldn’t know anything for
sure. By this time Newtonian physics (in some cases) and the
old conception of the atom had been thrown out the window.
Science became ultra-complicated.
• In biology, advances were made in the study of heredity and in
the isolation of viruses (which led to new drugs like
penicillin).
Popular Culture
• There were many new technologies (such as cars,
radios, planes, etc.) and lots of excitement in the
1920s. New and daring styles of architecture became
popular, as did advertising.
• The big new thing was the movies. Movies took full
advantage of the trend towards distortion sin time
and perspective. They also became super popular as
well as very profitable. All sorts of people, from the
rich to the poor, attended the movies, although
movies became more specialized to each country
with the introduction of sound in 1929.
When Sigmund Freud remarked that “in mental life
nothing which has once been formed can perish,” he
meant that
a. human beings are rational creatures.
b. human beings can remember and recall all
experiences at will.
c. all mental acts are conscious mental acts.
d. the unconscious preserves unpleasant as
wells pleasant thoughts.
e. the unconscious obliterates excess thoughts.
Albert Einstein is well known for
theorizing that
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
atoms are stable, building blocks of nature.
time and space are unconnected concepts.
light contains energy only when it is visible.
mass and energy are interconvertible.
the speed of an aircraft cannot exceed the
speed of sound.
Which of the following is one of Sigmund Freud’s most
significant contributions to twentieth century thought?
a. Spontaneous affection is harmful.
b. Unconscious psychological energy is sexual
energy.
c. Dreams are unrelated to waking thought.
d. Family life has little to do with mental illness.
e. Each individual’s personality is
predetermined by genetic characteristics.
Which of the following was a result of Einstein’s
publication of the special theory of relativity in 1905?
a. The quantum theory of Max Planck was disproved.
b. The accomplishments of Pierre and Marie Curie
were rendered obsolete.
c. Basic assumptions of classical physics abut space and
time had to be revised.
d. Nations of the world immediately began an intensive
research effort to create an atomic bomb.
e. Physicists concentrated on developing a method of
traveling faster than the speed of light.
The new physics caused much scientific controversy in
the early twentieth century primarily because it
a. led to the use of x-rays for medical diagnosis.
b. inspired the first attempts to build an atomic
bomb.
c. placed Germany at the forefront of
fundamental scientific research.
d. challenged traditional notions of causality,
time, and space.
e. showed that God could not intervene in the
universe except spiritually.
All of the following concepts are associated with
Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis
EXCEPT
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
superego
sublimation
collective unconscious
Oedipus complex
repression
The painting is associated with which of the
following modern art movements?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
impressionism
postimpressionism
Cubism
abstract expressionism
futurism
Sigmund Freud's theory of the human psyche
alarmed many because it stated that
a. sexuality was an unimportant element in
human life.
b. sexual molestation of children was common.
c. humans were motivated by irrational drives,
not only by logical thought.
d. overstimulation by modern aspects of society
was causing hysteria and neuroses.
e. Humans can only learn by classical
conditioning.
Which of the following best characterizes
European art and literature in the 1920’s?
a. Questioning of accepted values and practices.
b. A rejection of atheism and socialism.
c. A reaffirmation of human beauty and
goodness.
d. A resurrection of Victorian sensibilities and
styles.
e. Adherence to classical rules of composition.
Which of the following was a major new consumer item that
gained wide popularity in Europe between the First World War
and the Second World War?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
bicycles
coffee
radios
televisions
woolen clothing
All of the following became important new
technologies in interwar Europe (1918-1939) except
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
nuclear power
kitchen appliances
motion pictures
radio
airplanes
A social historian would be most likely to
research which of the following topics?
a. French diplomacy, 1742-1763
b. Frederick William I and the General
Directory of War, Finance, and Domains
c. The philosophical assumptions of
Montesquieu’s Persian Letters
d. Napoleon’s Freudian relationship with
Madame de Stael
e. Family life in a French village