In this lesson, you read about three dramatic plays identified as modern drama of the late nineteenth century and twentieth century. 1937), Alexander Vvedensky (1904–1941), Daniil Kharms (1905–1942), Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990), Alejandro Jodorowsky (b. Modern literature is written in the contemporary period. This gave way to new forms of literature and new means of sharing it. Modernism projects the fragmentation and decentredness of contemporary world as tragic. [6] Also important in Bergson's philosophy was the idea of élan vital, the life force, which "brings about the creative evolution of everything. It touched both poetry, prose fiction, and drama. Modern literature is written in the contemporary period. The Modernist Period in English Literature occupied the years from shortly after the beginning of the twentieth century through roughly 1965. It is difficult to decide the exact boundaries of the modern age of literature. Literary modernism, or modernist literature, originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America, and is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction writing. These themes are considered to be deeply inspired by the shock of the brutality and bloodshed of World War I -- and later World War II -- which caused these authors to question the very nature of society and reality. [16][19] Among modernists (or late modernists) still publishing after 1945 were Wallace Stevens, Gottfried Benn, T. S. Eliot, Anna Akhmatova, William Faulkner, Dorothy Richardson, John Cowper Powys, and Ezra Pound. In this period, T. S. Eliot published some of his most notable poetic works, including The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, and Ash Wednesday. What Are the Different Types of English Literature? Stylistically, too, Modernism was very different from its predecessors in the literary world. “Modern” is an interesting word. The various types of literature built upon and diversified away from previous types of literature. As well as choices in style and form, modernist literature is characterized by certain themes. Modern literature may refer to: Modernist literature , the literary form of modernism History of modern literature , new developments in reading and publishing from the modern period onwards It is through modern literature that the reader can understand a feeling of alienation and loss that many young men and women had after having crossed through the first very modern … This included, towards the end of the 20th century, its explosion online. Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio (1919) is known as an early work of modernism for its plain-spoken prose style and emphasis on psychological insight into characters. Is Amazon actually giving you the best price? Brown." 1929), Fernando Arrabal (b. Though the term is applied to a wide range of plays, some characteristics coincide in many of the plays: broad comedy, often similar to Vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the "well-made play". The term Theatre of the Absurd is applied to plays written by primarily European playwrights, that express the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Many critics and scholars find it best to define postmodern literature against the popular literary style that came before it: modernism. "[1] This literary movement was driven by a conscious desire to overturn traditional modes of representation and express the new sensibilities of their time. (shelved 55 times as modern-literature) avg rating 4.19 — … Ernst Mach argued that the mind had a fundamental structure, and that subjective experience was based on the interplay of parts of the mind in The Science of Mechanics (1883). This little known plugin reveals the answer. The term modernism covers a number of related, and overlapping, artistic and literary movements, including Imagism, Symbolism, Futurism, Vorticism, Cubism, Surrealism, Expressionism, and Dada. [citation needed]. Modernist luminaries include T.S. Modern Drama: Definition & Examples Further Exploration: 1. European modernist poets include Federico García Lorca, Fernando Pessoa, Anna Akhmatova, Constantine Cavafy, and Paul Valéry.