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Alexandra Cervantes
Rebecca Alvarenga
Esther Rodriguez
Erik Chavez
Lazaro R.
George Mendoza
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Modernism is a literary and
cultural movement which
flourished in the first
decades of the 20th century.
It is used to refer to English
literature in the broad sense.
Modernism can be
recognized not only in
literature but also in
painting, music, sculpture,
and architecture.
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Modernism can be applied to
the content and to the form of
a work, or either in isolation.
It reflects a sense of cultural
crisis that is exciting and
disquieting.
This opens up a new vista of
human possibilities but at the
same time puts into question
any ideas.
Modernism is marked by
experimentation, particularly
manipulation of form, and by
the realization that knowledge
is not absolute
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Emerged in the middle of the
nineteenth century in France,
with Charles Baudelaire in
literature and Edouard
Manet in painting.
The “avant-garde” was what
Modernism was called at
first, and the term remained
to describe movements
which identify themselves as
attempting to overthrow
some aspect of tradition or
the status quo.
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By 1930, Modernism had
entered popular culture. It
was beginning to be looked
to as the source for ides with
the challenges of the day.
It was developing a selfconscious of its own
importance.
One of the most visible
changes of this period was
objects into daily life.
(electricity, the telephone,
the automobile)
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In the 1930’s Modernist
writers became more overtly
political, especially in their
involvement with left-wing
causes and their opposition
the rise of Fascism in
Europe.
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Modernist literature had a
tendency to lack of
chronological narrative, or
move from one level of
narrative to another without
any warning through the
words of a number of
different narrators.
Unlike the literature in the
19th century, Modernist
novels left an impression of
enigma and an openendedness to the work.
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Although Ernest Dowson,
Arthur Symons and W.B.
Yeats, who were influenced
by the writing of
Baudelairure, Mallarme, and
Valery, had made use of
elements of what is called
Modernism, it was the work
of Henry James that really
indicated the new direction
in literature by the end of the
19th century.
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Other authors that went in
the same direction were
Stephen Crane, Joseph
Conrad, and Fore Modox
Ford.
The works of these writers
were new in their structure
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Uses images and symbols as
typical and frequent literary
techniques.
Uses colloquial language
rather than formal language.
Uses language in a very selfconscious way
Often the intention of writers
in the Modern period was to
change the way the reader
saw the world and the
change of understanding of
what language is and does.