Ernest Hemingway In Our Time
The relationship between modernity and modernism in the American novel.
● Modernism in the fine arts is a break from the past and a search for new forms
of expression. It fostered a period of experimentation in the arts from the late
19th century to the mid 20th century.
● Modernists felt a growing alienation incompatible with Victorian morality,
optimism and convention.
● Fueled in literature by industrialization and urbanization and by the search for
an authentic response to a changed world. Typically associated with the post
WWI era.
● The war had undermined human faith in Western foundations of society and
culture, and Modernist literature reflected a sense of disillusionment and
fragmentation.
● American fiction: It was an era of boldness and fast paced living. Essence was
to capture modern life, which is why much of it is written in a pessimistic tone.
● Most modern works reflected the thoughts and confusion of most Americans
during Great Depression and wars.
● Became known as the ‘lost generation’.
● Modernism can be seen as a ‘culture’: related ideas, beliefs, values and modes
of perception. Modernization on the other hand is a process of social and
economic development involving the rise of industry, technology, urbanization
and bureaucratic institutions.
● Modernism arose in part as a response to the triumph of modernization,
especially in its norm of rationality and efficiency.
● Modernism usually connotes a radical experimentation in artistic style
Specific Characteristics of Modern literature
● Spiritual disillusionment/anxiety, psychological depth, focus on
perspective/stream of consciousness, thickening of style, emphasis on
symbolism.
● Hemingway: Stripped down, terse prose, dialogue, psychological displacement,
moral ambiguity, codified violence, iceberg principle.
In Our Time
● Themes: Fatherhood. The complex relationship between father and son, and the
complications of a man with true experience and a young boy with so much
innocence. Fatherhood about authority and control?
The relationship between modernity and modernism in the American novel.
● Modernism in the fine arts is a break from the past and a search for new forms
of expression. It fostered a period of experimentation in the arts from the late
19th century to the mid 20th century.
● Modernists felt a growing alienation incompatible with Victorian morality,
optimism and convention.
● Fueled in literature by industrialization and urbanization and by the search for
an authentic response to a changed world. Typically associated with the post
WWI era.
● The war had undermined human faith in Western foundations of society and
culture, and Modernist literature reflected a sense of disillusionment and
fragmentation.
● American fiction: It was an era of boldness and fast paced living. Essence was
to capture modern life, which is why much of it is written in a pessimistic tone.
● Most modern works reflected the thoughts and confusion of most Americans
during Great Depression and wars.
● Became known as the ‘lost generation’.
● Modernism can be seen as a ‘culture’: related ideas, beliefs, values and modes
of perception. Modernization on the other hand is a process of social and
economic development involving the rise of industry, technology, urbanization
and bureaucratic institutions.
● Modernism arose in part as a response to the triumph of modernization,
especially in its norm of rationality and efficiency.
● Modernism usually connotes a radical experimentation in artistic style
Specific Characteristics of Modern literature
● Spiritual disillusionment/anxiety, psychological depth, focus on
perspective/stream of consciousness, thickening of style, emphasis on
symbolism.
● Hemingway: Stripped down, terse prose, dialogue, psychological displacement,
moral ambiguity, codified violence, iceberg principle.
In Our Time
● Themes: Fatherhood. The complex relationship between father and son, and the
complications of a man with true experience and a young boy with so much
innocence. Fatherhood about authority and control?
