Modernism

(1900-1950)
By: Camilo Espinosa, Gabriela López y Gabriela
Carranza
Historical
Context
Industrialization
World War I and II
Communism
Great Depression

Increase of the economical gap

Secession War
Racism
 Charasteristics
Modernism is from 1900 to 1950, literary modernism is
a conscious break with the past and a search for new
forms of expression.

individualism, personal thought of the author

experimentation, free verse
absurdity,
symbolism,
formalism, creativity
 Edward Estlin Cummings John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Zora Neale Hurston
e.e cummnings J. R. R Tolkien Racial struggles-
Unusual syntax Father of modern fantasy contemporary issues
literature

Authors
Fragments
1. Lack of capitalization: "i and my life will shut
very beautifully, suddenly."
2. Unusual punctuation usage: "you open always
petal by petal myself as Spring opens,"
3. Unusual structure: "touching skilfully,
mysteriously,"
4. Creative play with metaphors: "the voice of your
eyes is deeper than all roses,"
 Fragments
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they
sail forever on the same horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in
resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.
Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t
want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."

— Zora Neale Hurston, "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Impact on Society
Post-War Disillusionment
Inclusion of Marginalized Voices
Creative freedom
Understand individual experiences