M

Modernism

The French philosopher altered conventional perception of time and memory

There was objective time and subjective time

The first is measured quantitatively and the second qualitatively

Subjective time was the only one which was important to men

the past doesn't disappear but endures into the present and influences it.

The present in itself doesn't exist: it is always pervaded by the past and the future.

Henry Bergson

this anthropologist revealed that primitive thoughts persisted beneath the surface of modern society

Cultural

background

he found traces and evidence of primitive rituals and myths in different modern civilizations

There were common deep aspects which were shared by every civilization at every time

As a consequence a more relativist point of view considering other civilizations was introduced

This psychologist elaborated the theory of the stream of consciousness.

James Frazer

With this metaphorical expression James exemplified his idea that men didn't think in an ordered sequence of coherent thought, but in an unbroken flow of disordered thoughts, like a stream.

Thought proceeds with the free association of ideas.

William James

Einstein's theory of relativity added uncertainty and destabilization. The idea of time and space radically changed. They weren't fixed reference systems but they were relative, which seemed almost inconceivable.

psychoanalysis showed the power of irrational elements, primary instincts and unconscious desires.

Albert Einstein

these instincts and desires were often sexual or destructive and so they didn't fit into the socialised and civilised idea of propriety and decency.

man had no control of the hidden side of his personality: unknown irrational forces regulated his behaviour.

He also spoke of collective unconscious: a sort of cultural memory containing the universal myths and beliefs of the human race

Importance was given to dreams and free association of ideas to interpret these impulses

Sigmund Freud

Carl Jung

These three philosophers showed their contempt for religion, which had always been a steady point in order to give meaning to life.

Marx

Engels

Nietsche

Social background

association of ideas is the most frequent mechanism the stream of consciousness proceeds with

Literary

consequences

a period of

crisis and anxiety

there were two types of monologue: direct interior monologue and indirect interior monologue

A consequence of the interior monologue is the

radical disruption of the linear flow of narrative: in just a few words the thought can move from the present to the past and from the past to the future

the interior monologue is the verbal expression of a psychic phenomenon: the stream of consciousness

indirect interior monologue:

the author is present with introductory phrases and explanations to guide the reader through the narration

Men felt deprived of all the certainties they had always believed in. They could not find new values which could replace the old ones. The period was so called The Age of Anxiety

certitudes were challenged. Everything was changing

direct interior monologue:

the character's thoughts flow freeely, with no interruptions or external elements

the viewpoint shifted from the external world to the internal world of a character's mind

The features of the interior monologue:

• Verbal expression of a psychic phenomenon
• Syntax is not respected
• Free from introductory expressions like "he thought", "he remembered", "he said"
• Lack of chronological order and the presence of subjective time,
• Absence of punctuation,
• Lack of formal logical order

It was no longer necessary to take characters through a series of circumstances or events to describe their personalities. The simple exploration of their consciousness in a very short space of time could reveal all of their histories and personalities.

traditional values

lost importance

realism was no longer appropriate to describe man and society

contempt for the hypocrisy and the narrow-mindedness of the Victorian Age

the plot was substituted with the interior monologue: inner thoughts represented characters much better than their actions

One way of creating order out of the chaos of the modern world was the recourse to primitive myths as a point of comparison between the antiquity and contemporary society

One of the modernists' features was the manipulation of parallels between contemporaneity and antiquity

religious belief seemed meaningless

In the attempt to create a new system of references writers drew inspiration from classical cultures to create a new subjective mythology

Artistic

developments

Modernism wasn't only

a literary movement

modernists were deeply suspicious of conventional ideas about morality, religion and politics

many artists didn't aim to popularity. In literature they're called "the great unread"

conventional artistic methods were invalidated by a spirit of rupture with the past

many artsits chose

a voluntary exile

from their countries

new ways of representing the world needed to be invented