Q.

Analyze the growth of 'modernism', tracing the socio-cultural, political and

philosophical/intellectual history of the English society, in particular, and European
society, in general, towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th
century, reflecting on the prominently visible changes during the period,
juxtaposing the philosophical values of the Victorian era to its succeeding era, with
an attempt to understand the modernist movement particularly in the literary field.
Answer :
Modernism, in English literature, was a radical movement which began in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century. Disillusioned by the assurances provided by
religion, politics and society, people broke away from the constraints of the
conservative Victorian era and decided to make it new as exhorted by American
poet, Ezra Pound. The repudiation of these beliefs, magnified by the World War 1,
led to the emergence of a new era which alienated every traditional idea held
sacred by the Western civilization and was coined modernism.
The Victorian era preceding Modernism held dear to itself a plethora of restrictions
regarding social conduct. The society was judged on the basis of the highly idealized
notions of an Englishman. Aristocracy was at its peak due to the rise of the imperial
power and sophisticated behavior was given utmost importance. A mans class was
put on a pedestal. However, the latent hypocrisy present in this society led to
sowing of the seeds of rebellion which bloomed with the death of Queen Victoria in
1901.
On the other hand, many critics believe that the roots of modernism belong to a
period before Victorian era. The intellectual underpinnings of modernism emerge
during the period of Renaissance when, with the help of the study of art, poetry,
philosophy and science of ancient Greece and Rome, humanists revived the notion
that man, rather than God, is the measure of all things.
Apart from Renaissance Humanism, there are also tenets of the Enlightenment
philosophy present in Modernism. Enlightenment, as a movement focused on
transforming the society, elevating human perception of freedom and freeing
individual thought processes from blind faith in religion and tradition. It promoted
skepticism, intellectual enquiry and embraced science and technology as a means
to reach or deal with the truth of our reality. These very characteristics are present
in the literature produced in the twentieth century literature as well.
Modernism was basically a period of rebellion against the outdated art of the
Victorian era in order to embrace the rise of industrialization and the change it
brought along. This adamant striving against the grain led to multiple changes in all
forms of art. Since the times were changing, the content had to be changed as well.
Disruption was embraced and the beliefs which were passed from generation to
generation were rejected.
With the ushering in of thinkers such as Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx
and Albert Einstein, there was a groundbreaking disruption in the conservative
society. Darwins theory of evolution caused religious notions of the Higher Power to

be questioned as it propounded the theory that human beings had evolved from
apes and were driven by the instinct of survival. God played no role in our birth and
thus, it led to a battle between faith versus science. Marxs political version of the
same proposition created a religion uncertainty among the general public and the
thinkers initially met with a huge amount of resistance. Freuds Interpretation of
Dreams and Einsteins theory of relativity also caused a huge furor with the
masses. The basic faith in religion was shaken and Friedrich Nietzsches idea of God
being dead brought man back into the limelight as the main centre.
Revered author, Virginia Woolf, wrote, On or about December 1910, human
character changedAll human relations have shifted those between masters and
servants, husbands and wives, parents and children. And when human relations
change, there is at the same time a change in religion, conduct, politics, and
literature. Therefore, with a change in the atmosphere due to the horrific event of
World War 1, there was a change in the sentiments expressed in novels. Nihilism
was predominant as disillusioned authors wrote about progress as a decline in
civilization and an increase in cold machinery and capitalism. Alienation and human
loneliness dominated the works of modern writers such as Henrik Ibsen and T.S.
Eliot. Franz Kafkas Metamorphosis and The Trial are brilliant examples of the
futility of human life which was being experienced by the masses.
According to art historian and author, T.J. Clark, Modernism had two great wishes. It
wanted its audience to be led toward a social reality of the sign (away from the
comforts of narrative and illusionism, was the claim); but equally it dreamed of
turning the sign back to a bedrock of World/Nature/Sensation/Subjectivity which the
to and fro of capitalism had all but destroyed. There was a shift in the
consciousness of the human mind which allowed the writer to choose from infinite
possibilities and exploit the various permutations and combinations of human
relations and interpersonal relationships. It also made realism an attractive form of
writing along with magical realism, stream of consciousness, confessional writing
etc. The personal space was taken into the political arena and there soon emerged a
kind of dehumanization.
As per the wishes of modernism, traditional forms and traditional social
arrangements were seen as a hindrance to progress, and the artist was recast as a
revolutionary, overthrowing rather than enlightening. . Modernism in terms of art
marks an abrupt break with all tradition and structures of language, of emotions, of
narratives, of styles of writing, of time and space constraints along with an open
abandonment of all the literary efforts of the past. Texts were not filled with epic
characters anymore rather the main center remained characters from common life.
The grandeur of art was neglected and the realistic approach with which it was
written became the ornament itself. Subjects were not just supernatural themes but
real life emotions of fairly believable protagonists. In other words it was a
movement inwards into the mind and psyche of human beings
William E. Hordern said, In his own way the modernist becomes as irrelevant as the
fundamentalist. The fundamentalist has something to say to his world, but he has
lost the ability to say it. The modernist knows how to speak to his age, but he has

nothing to say. This highlighted the existential crisis that the modernists suffered.
The First and the Second World War, both of which had drastic impacts on the
nineteenth century and later years to come. During the 1920s the anxiety and
unrest was unavoidable, people were facing frightening scenes, harsh conditions,
displacement of men and woman was prevailing along with perpetual danger to
ones life. A new sense of displacement and lack of place emerged like that
witnessed by Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot (1953),
a modern play which also embodies the existential spirit of this age.
Many believe that the true definition of modernism is that it is undefined. Authors
like Mary Shelley and psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud propounded ways to
stand miles away from the Victorian notions of instruct and entertain. While
Victorian literature was supposed to instill in its readers the social and moral values
of the age, modern literature needed its readers to empathize and identify, further
pushing them towards freedom from these very moral and societal codes helping
them to shape their own individual truth.
In conclusion, modernism was a striving age filled with despair and nihilism. As a
response to the ages preceding it and the atmosphere of the twentieth century,
modernism was a rebellion against the authority as a structure which had failed
them and their happiness was stimulated by the breaking of conventions and rules
set by the Victorian era. Therefore, in a bid to move away from everything old and
to make it new, modernism completely changed the face of art, particularly that of
literature.