Here I am sharing the presentation of Paper-9.

1. General characteristics of Modern
Literature
Name- Budhiditya Shankar Das
Course- M.A. (English)
Paper No.- 09
Roll No.- 07
Sem- 03
Email Id- budhiditya900@gmail.com
Submitted to- Smt.S.B.Gardi
Department of English
M.K.Bhavnagar University

2. What is Modernism?
-> Strong and international break with
tradition against established religious,
political, social views.
-> No connection with history or institution.
-> No things as absolute truth-all are relative.
-> People make their own meaning in the
world.
-> Rise of mass communication.
-> Celebration of inner strength.
-> It was International and interdisciplinary
movement.

3. Modern Age
-> Totally opposite from Victorian age
-> Believed in rational thinking
-> Prose created the most(bitter satire, scientific fiction,
realistic).
-> World war first and second create chaotic situation in
society and literature.
-> Anti war literature and absurd theatre
-> Includes science and psychology –impact of colonialism
-> New term AVANT-GARDE introduce
-> The Modern Age is the most complex, complicated, baffling
and revolutionary age in the history of the world.
->The modern period has been a period of significant
development in the field of Science, Politics, Warfare and
technology.

4. Characteristic of Modernism in
Literature
-> Literature exhibits perspectives
- meaning comes from the individuals perspective
-> Interiority is represented
- inner psychology, stream of consciousness
-> Perception of language change
- language is “thick” with multiple meaning
-> Emphasis on the experimental
- open ending
* Note of pessimism, disillusionment and melancholy in
writing.
* Sense of fragmentation and loss of faith.
*Use of symbol and scientific methodology.
* Reflection of the modern chaos and confusion.
*The decay of plot and characters in writing.
* Passion for humanity and humanitarianism.

5. General Characteristic of Modern
Age
-> Anxiety and interrogation
-Freedom of thought and action, rational thinking
-> Art for art sake
-concentration on the problem of modern life, role of realism
-> Growing interest in the poor class and the working class
-(poor) challenge to the social conscience
-> Impact of socio-economic condition on literature
-raised voice against poverty, change the pattern of economic thinking,
Marxism influence on literature
- Anxiety and Interrogation
- Art for life’s sake
-Growing interest in the poor class and the working class
- Psychology and literature
- The impact of socio-economic conditions on literature
-The influence of Radio, Cinema and Television
- The impact of the Two World Wars

6. -> Psychology and literature
- New theory of psychology “Stream of
Consciousness”
-> The impact of the two world wars
- Second war has influence on man and human
life, anti-war book.
-> Symbolism, formalism, individuality and
absurdity
-> Experimentation was one of the finest qualities of
this age

7. Anxiety and Interrogation
-> It is called the age of anxiety and
interrogation.
-> Men and Women showed an
extraordinary enthusiasm for
speculation, experiment and reform.
-> The mood of persistent scepticism and
interrogation has increased
disproportionately for want of a new set
of values.

8. Art for Life’s Sake
-> They rejected the doctrine of “art
for art’s sake”. They evolved the creed
of “art for life’s sake”, or at least for
the sake of the community.
-> The poetry and prose of this period
turned to a serious mood and had a
definite purpose.

9. VICTORIAN ART MODERN ART

10. Victorian Art Modern Art

11. Growing interest in the poor class
and the working class
-> The mid-Victorian writers, Dickens.
-> Thackeray, Kingsley, Reade, Mrs.
Gaskell etc. were critical of the injustice
done to the poor working classes.
-> Bernard Shaw, who questioned
everything , spread for at least a
generation “ the interrogative habit of
mind”.

12. The Influence of Radio, Cinema
and a Television
Edward Albert
-> “ In so far as the radio stories, plays and
literary discussions and opened up an entirely
new field for authors, its influence was for the
good…….at the same time it must be
remembered that film techniques were the
basis of a number of experiments in the
novel”.

13. Psychology and Literature
-> New psychological researches
influenced literature. Intellectual
convictions appeared to be
rationalizations of emotion needs.
-> The modern age may be termed as the
age of rationalization in sexual
behaviour.
-> The new theory of psychology and sex
gave us “ the stream of consciousness
novel.

14. Conclusion
-> Age of science and scientific
discoveries
-> Reconstruction of new values
-> Because of political turmoil
revolutionary ideologies rise:
Fascism, Nazism, communism takes
place.