The Modern Period (c. 1901-1945)

The Modern Period in literature, also known as Modernism, was a revolutionary international movement in the arts driven by a conscious and radical break with the traditions of the 19th century. Modernist writers felt that Victorian forms and conventions were inadequate to represent the reality of the 20th-century world. Their central call to action, famously articulated by the poet Ezra Pound, was to “Make It New.”

The period roughly begins with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and is often considered to end with the conclusion of World War II in 1945, which ushered in the Post-Modern era.

Context and Influences

The “shock of the new” that defined Modernism was fueled by several profound changes:

World War I (1914-1918): This was the most shattering event of the era. The unprecedented scale of death and mechanical destruction destroyed the old Victorian belief in progress and a stable, comprehensible world. It left a generation with a deep sense of disillusionment, trauma, and fragmentation.
New Psychological Theories: The work of Sigmund Freud on the unconscious mind suggested that human identity was not stable or rational, but was driven by hidden desires and irrational impulses. This led to a profound interest in exploring the inner, psychological lives of characters.
New Philosophical and Social Ideas: Thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche, who famously declared that “God is dead,” captured the widespread loss of religious faith and the collapse of traditional moral certainties. The theories of Karl Marx challenged traditional social structures and highlighted the alienation of the individual.
Anthropology and the “Mythical Method”: The work of anthropologists like Sir James Frazer (The Golden Bough) suggested that all cultures share common archetypal myths. Writers like T.S. Eliot and James Joyce used this “Mythical Method” to impose a sense of order and universal significance onto the chaotic modern world.

Key Characteristics of Modernist Literature

Experimentation with Form: This is the hallmark of Modernism. Writers deliberately broke traditional narrative structures, chronology, and grammar, using fragmentation and collage to reflect the chaotic nature of modern life. This includes a number of related movements, such as Imagism, Symbolism, Futurism, and Vorticism.
Focus on Individual Consciousness: Influenced by Freud and the philosopher William James, Modernists shifted their focus from the external, social world to the inner world of the individual mind. Reality was seen as subjective and best represented through a character’s personal perceptions.
Stream of Consciousness: This became the quintessential Modernist narrative technique.

Note: What is Stream of Consciousness?

This phrase, coined by psychologist William James, describes a narrative method that undertakes to reproduce the full spectrum and continuous flow of a character’s mental process. It presents a jumbled mix of conscious and half-conscious thoughts, memories, sensory perceptions, and random associations, often ignoring linear logic and conventional grammar. It is sometimes used interchangeably with Interior Monologue.
Themes of Alienation and Fragmentation: Modernist works are filled with a sense of loneliness, spiritual emptiness, and the breakdown of communication. Characters often feel like isolated outsiders in a meaningless world. The modern city is frequently portrayed as a place of anonymity and decay.
Use of Allusion, Symbolism, and Imagism: Modernist literature is often intellectually dense and difficult. It is packed with complex allusions to classical literature and myth. Poets in the Imagist movement, led by Ezra Pound, focused on using precise, concrete images to convey meaning directly.

Major Genres, Authors, and Movements

1. Modernist Poetry

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965): The most influential poet and critic of the period. His poetry embodies the fragmentation, spiritual desolation, and intellectual complexity of Modernism. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
- Key Works: The Waste Land (1922), the definitive poem of the Modernist movement; “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” a dramatic monologue of a modern man paralyzed by anxiety; Four Quartets.
W. B. Yeats (1865-1939): An Irish poet whose career bridged the 19th and 20th centuries. His later work is profoundly Modernist, using a complex personal symbolic system.
Ezra Pound (1885-1972): A central figure who acted as an editor and promoter for many other Modernists. He was a leader of the Imagist movement.
The War Poets: A group of poets who wrote about the brutal realities of World War I.
- Key Figures: Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon.

2. The Modernist Novel

This is where the most radical formal experimentation took place.

James Joyce (1882-1941): An Irish novelist considered the master of the Stream of Consciousness technique.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941): A key practitioner of Stream of Consciousness, whose novels explore the inner lives and subjective perceptions of her characters.
D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930): His novels explored modern relationships and the destructive effects of industrialization on the human psyche with a frankness about sexuality that was often controversial.
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924): An early Modernist whose novels feature fragmented narratives and explore themes of imperialism, moral ambiguity, and the darkness within the human heart.
E. M. Forster (1879-1970): His novels critique the class structure and social conventions of Edwardian England.
- Key Work: A Passage to India.

3. Modernist Drama

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950): A dominant figure in modern drama, famous for his “plays of ideas” which used witty dialogue to debate social and political issues.
- Key Works: Arms and the Man, Pygmalion, Man and Superman.
The Irish Literary Revival: A movement that sought to create a distinctly Irish literature.
T.S. Eliot: Wrote several verse dramas, attempting to revive the form.

(The devastation of World War II marked a turning point, leading to a new set of philosophical questions and literary styles that would come to be known as Post-Modernism.)

Summary for Quick Revision:

The Modern Period (c. 1901-1945), or Modernism, was an international literary movement characterized by a radical break from 19th-century traditions, driven by the motto “Make It New” (Ezra Pound). Influenced by World War I’s disillusionment, new psychological theories (Freud), philosophical ideas (Nietzsche, Marx), and anthropology (Frazer’s “mythical method”), Modernist literature features experimentation with form, focus on individual consciousness, and themes of alienation and fragmentation. Key techniques include Stream of Consciousness (Joyce, Woolf), and the use of allusion, symbolism, and Imagism. Major poets include T.S. Eliot (The Waste Land), W.B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, and the War Poets. Notable novelists are James Joyce (Ulysses), Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, and E.M. Forster. Modernist drama saw figures like George Bernard Shaw and the Irish Literary Revival. The period ended with WWII, ushering in Post-Modernism.