Sunday, 10 November 2013

Modernism vs the Avant-Garde

Characteristics of Modernism: 1901-1945 (roughly)
Tend to experiment with highly individualistic styles of writing- the sense of the changing world was catalysed by radical new developments, including:

  • the beginning of mass democracy and the rise of mass communication
  • information technologies advent (radio and cinema)
  • emergence of new 'city conciousness'
  • shift in power structures (women enter work force, gender qualms and equality)
  • warfare at a global level
  • fin de siècle consciousness
  • critique of british imperialism and ideology of empire
  • insights from the emerging fields of psychology and sociology
  • break traditional form and reject traditional values
  • emphasis on individual rather on society and group
  • experiment with language
writers that take this on board include Eliot, Stevens and Kafka

Characteristics of Avant-garde:

  • pushing the boundaries of the normworks that are experimental or innovative
  • considered by some to be the hallmark of modernism
  • promotion of radical social reforms
  • opposed to 'high' or 'mainstream' culture, and rejects the artificially synthesized mass culture produced by industrialisation (Clement Greenberg- Partisan Review)
Avant-garde art movements include, Dadaism- born out of the negative reactions to horrors of WW/ rejects prevailing standards in art. It is the groundwork to abstract art and sound poetry

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