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"The Interpretation of Dreams"/ Sigmund Freuds Stream of Consciousness
Sigmund Freud promoted a view of an unconscious mind full of primal impulses and self-imposed restrictions. Carl Jung believed in natural inclination towards unconscious that was full of basic typologies that the mind would have fought or embraced.The view suggested that people's impulses towards breaking social norms were not the product of childishness or ignorance, but were instead essential to the nature of mankind. -
Albert Eistein's Special Theory of Relativity
Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity proposes that the measured speed of light is constant even if the observer of the light is moving. This questioned the reality of nature. Since restrictions which had been in place around human activity were falling, then art, too, would have to radically change. A series of writers, thinkers, and artists made the break with traditional means of organizing literature, painting, and music. -
Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)
The work includes cubism and modern art. Demoiselles was revolutionary and controversial, and led to wide anger and disagreement. -
Futurist Manifesto
The Futurist Manifesto, by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, initiated an artistic philosophy, Futurism rejected the past, and glorified danger, war, and machine. -
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Cubism
Cubism was a twentieth century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting, sculpture, music and literature. In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstract forms. The new approach influenced the art of Modernism. The most famous painters are Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Georges Braque. Their paintings influenced the poetry during the era. -
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Modernismo
Modernism also took place in Latin America. Famous artists include, Rubén Darío. Leopoldo Lugones, Julio Herrera y Reissig, Julián del Casal, and Manuel González Prada. It blends three European movements: Romanticism, Symbolism and Parnassianism. Inner passions, visions, and harmonies are expressed in a rich, verbal music. This movement influenced Hispanic writings and English writings. -
Birth of Modernism
Virginia Wolfe declared that human nature changed on December 1910. The beginning of modernism paralleled advances in technology (ex: automobiles, airplanes...) and Einstein's scientific discoveries. At the beginning of modernism there was a sense of idealism. -
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Modernism
The Modernist Period in poetry occupied the years from shortly after the beginning of the twentieth century through roughly 1965. The period was marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with traditional ways of viewing and interacting with the world. Experimentation and individualism became virtues, where in the past they were often discouraged. Region of movement: Europe/Americas -
Stravinsky's Rite of Springs
Russian composer Igor Stravinsky composed Rite of Spring for a ballet, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky that depicted human sacrifice. This contibuted to the start of Modernism. -
World War I
The idealism that characterized modern poetry before World War I ended with the advent of global war. World War I ravaged Europe from 1914 through 1918. At the time, this “War to End All Wars” was looked upon with such ghastly horror that many people could not imagine what the world seemed to be plunging towards. The wars shellshocked the Western civilization. Instead of caring for nature, being, or history, they portrayed the decay, and alienation of society. -
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot
It presents a stream of consciousness in the form of a dramatic monologue. -
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Dadaism
Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in neutral Zürich, Switzerland, during World War I. Dadaism is a deliberately irrational protest against the barbarism of the War and oppressive intellectual rigidity. Intentionally its paintings offend. The artwork has no meaning. The interpretation of the artwork is dependent entirely on the viewer. -
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Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a far-left ideology. It is based on principles of class conflict, egalitarianism, rationalism, and social progress. This rational thinking was conveyed in the poetry during the time period. -
Chinese Poetry/Imagism
The ideas of Confuscious along with the aesthetic techniques of Chinese and Japanese poetry influenced modernist poets. Chinese ideograms were especially influential. In contrast to Western phonetic language, Chinese ideograms convey their meaning visually and the poetry correspondingly accomplishes a kind of painting. This idea influenced poet Ezro Pound to found the modernist school of imagism. -
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American Century
World War I wiped out a generation of young men in Europe. It capulted Russia into revolution. By the end of World War I, the European domination of the World had ended and the American century had begun. Thus, not only were European poets instrumental in modernism, but American poets were as well. (Ex: TS Eliot, Ezra Pound) -
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Harlem Renaissance
Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance was an offshoot of Modernism. African American writers who visited Paris were influenced by the Modernist poets there. The Harlem Renaissance poetry helped the French poets envision the possibilites of breaking away from European models by creating a poetic language by which to express black identity. -
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Bauhaus
Baubhaus promotes the trend towards less ornate art and architecture and greater utility. The inspiration for this concern was the rise of the working class. -
Women's Suffrage
The 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. Society began to think differently. -
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Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement whose works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur. It reveals the unconscious mind in dream images, and promotes the irrational and impossible combinations of objects depicted in realistic detail. -
Publication of T.S. Elliot's "The Wasteland"
The Wasteland has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." The poem shifts between satire and prophecy. It features abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time. The poem has become a familiar touchstone of modern literature. Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month" is one of the most important phrases of the 20th century. -
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century. The disillusionment of the people fueled modernism. -
World War II
By the Second World War, there was still strong reaction against the pretentions of the Moderns. Artists of this newer generation pursued a more democratic, pluralistic mode for poetry. The war continued to change the way many people perceived truth and reality. Commercialism, publicity, and the popular audience were finally embraced, not shunned. Alienation became boring. -
"Of Modern Poetry" by Wallace Stevens
In this poem, the poem and the mind become synonymous. -
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building/ Architecture of Modernism
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York (1956–1958), is the archetypal Modernist building. Modernist design of houses and furniture also emphasized simplicity and clarity of form. This style is reflected in poetry.
