AMERICAN MODERNISM

(1914 – 1945)
American modernism is an artistic and cultural movement in the United States beginning at the
turn of the 20th century, with a core period between World War and World War II.
The Modernist American movement is a reflection of American life in the 20 th century. In this
quickly industrializing world and hastened pace of life, it is easy for the individual to be swallowed up by
the vastness of things; left wandering, devoid of purpose. Social boundaries in race, class, sex, wealth,
and religion are all being challenged. As the social structure is challenged by new incoming views the
bounds of traditional standards and social structure dissolve and a loss of identity is all that remains;
translating later into isolation, alienation, and an overall feeling of separateness from any kind of
"whole". The unity of a war rallied country was dying, along with it the illusion of the pleasantries it sold
to its soldiers and people. The world was left violent, vulgar, and spiritually empty.
Emergence of Modernism in Literature
While America continued to evolve and change (the 19th amendment gave women the right to
vote, and the stock market crash of 1929 changed everything), modernism in American literature
continued to reflect varying experiences with change from 1914-1945.
Around the turn of the century, this country saw a shift as a result of industrialization. Cities
began to grow and technology suddenly had the power to change everything. This is when realism in
literature began, which, in basic terms, was a literary movement that produced (for the first time)
writing that reflected the very real lives of the working class. In that sense, literature was already
beginning to change.
It was 1914, however, that marked a very important change - something began that ultimately
sent the world into a tailspin. It was World War I - the first war of mass destruction - a war in which
many nations saw their best and brightest young men die. Although U.S. involvement in battle was
limited to just over a year, the country mobilized itself for true worldwide conflict, raised money and
whatever else would help, supported allied powers and prepared over four million personnel for battle.
The problem with World War I: Technology led to a new kind of war. With advancements in
weapon development (like widespread use of automatic weaponry), war became about mass casualties
- a change that many felt was inhumane and just downright evil. Others saw the results of World War I
(over 9 million deaths) and felt that it was further proof in the necessity of a strong national defense
(armed forces, etc.). Divided and confused, the only fact that was decidedly clear was that the U.S. had
just been catapulted into modern warfare in a very modern world.
Dazed from the war, many of the younger generation no longer felt patriotic, content or safe.
This generation became known as the 'Lost Generation.' A youth culture emerged - one in which free
expression and a deliberate break from tradition became defining characteristics.
Characteristics
Modernist literature is characterized chiefly by a rejection of 19th-century traditions.
Clearly, breaking from tradition was a big part of the literary movement. This was evident in the
choice to break from traditional forms. So now, literature could look like anything, even a sentence that
went on for 157 words. There was quite a bit of fragmentation, as well as experimentation with point of
view in writing – just another way to create a unique style.
Some stories were thoughtful and self-reflective, while others had an overwhelming sense of
alienation, as a result of differing ways of processing the changing times. Readers can see an
experimentation with gender roles, an introduction of racial issues and an inclusion of pop culture in
many works. While some stories showed the wealth of the middle and upper classes (through
materialism and lack of limits), others illustrated the bleakness of rural life.
There was something interesting that contributed to the tone of many works of the time -
psychology. For the first time, psychology became a truly popular subject to debate, specifically Sigmund
Freud and his new ideas. This included the implication that we were, in fact, godless. Any faith religion
or belief in a higher power was challenged by this. Many were left feeling even more lost. This sentiment
pervades works of modern literature in the US.
Major Writers
The Lost Generation
Known as "The Lost Generation," American writers of the 1920s brought Modernism to the
United States. For writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, World War I destroyed the illusion that acting
virtuously brought about good. Like their British contemporaries, American Modernists rejected
traditional institutions and forms. American Modernists include:
 Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises chronicles, the meaningless lives of the Lost
Generation. Farewell to Arms narrates the tale of an ambulance driver searching for
meaning in WWI.
 F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby shows through its protagonist, Jay Gatsby, the
corruption of the American Dream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald, (1896-1940), was the leading writer of America's Jazz Age, the Roaring
Twenties, and one of its glittering heroes. The chief quality of Fitzgerald's talent was his ability to be
both a leading participant in the high life he described, and a detached observer of it. Few readers saw
the serious side of Fitzgerald, and he was not generally recognized as a gifted writer during his lifetime.
While he lived, most readers considered his stories a chronicle and even a celebration of moral decline.
But later readers realized that Fitzgerald's works have a deeper moral theme.
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck, (1902-1968), an American author, won the 1962 Nobel Prize in literature.
Steinbeck's best-known fiction sympathetically explores the struggles of poor people. His most famous
novel, THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1939), won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize. The novel tells the story of the Joads,
a poor Oklahoma farming family, who migrate to California in search of a better life during the Great
Depression of the 1930s. Steinbeck effectively demonstrated how the struggles of one family mirrored
the hardship of the entire nation. Through the inspiration of the labor organizer Jim Casy, the Joads
learn that the poor mustwork together in order to survive.
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway, (1899-1961), was one of the most famous and influential American writers
of the 1900s. He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel THE
OLD MAN AND THE SEA (1952).
William Faulkner William Faulkner, (1897-1962), ranks among the leading authors in American
literature. He gained fame for his novels about the fictional "Yoknapatawpha County" and its county
seat of Jefferson. Faulkner patterned the county after the area around his hometown, Oxford, Miss. He
explored the county's geography, history, economy, and social and moral life. Faulkner received the
1949 Nobel Prize for literature. He won Pulitzer Prizes in 1955 for A FABLE.