what is a characteristic of internal monologue in modernist writing

Modernism in Literature: An Overview

Modernism in literature is synonymous with literary modernism or modernist literature. This movement traces its origins to late 19^th and early 20^th century. It began in France, spread to England and America and finally came back to Europe. Although many critics disagree on the origin and "death" of literary modernism, almost all of them agree that it enjoyed its peak during the years 1910-1925.

Literary Movements in Modernism

The term "modernism" refers to a genre in art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with the previous genres and traditional style of writing; it expresses new sensibilities of the time. Literary modernism refers specifically to the artwork and literature that came forth during the late 19^th and early 20^th century. It includes many artistic and literary movements like

Imagism: Precision of imagery and use of clear, sharp language
Symbolism: Use of symbols to signify ideas by giving them more than just literal meaning
Vorticism: Rejection of landscape in favor of a geometric style tending towards abstraction
Expressionism: In poetry and painting, representation of the world solely from a subjective perspective distorting it radically
Futurism: Emphasizes speed, technology, youth, violence and objects such as machines and industrial city
Surrealism: Dream-like quality in artwork; unnerving, illogical scenes, strange creatures produced from everyday objects to fully express the unconscious
Cubism: In painting and sculpture, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form to show a three-dimensional viewpoint
Dadaism: Producing works characterized by nonsense, caricature and incongruity

Modernist literature showed a marked difference from the traditional literature in content and form. It spoke of inner self and consciousness instead of nature and being. However, before discussing the characteristics of literary modernism further, it seems prudent to have a look at the social and political scenario of the time so as to have a better understanding of the shift in style.

Historical Background: The Concept Behind Modernist Literature

In the early decades of the 20^th century, the world was shaken by the emerging fields and theories of psychology and sociology like those of Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx. Moreover, science made quantum leaps in discoveries and inventions. The advent of Theory of Relativity and quantum physics made the world realize that the universe was more complex than it was believed up till then. The world also witnessed progress in public education, mass communication, transportation and medical technology; however, along with it, came a surge of tanks, chemical weapons and aircraft which resulted in the horrible destruction caused by World War-I killing 20 million people.

The war belied the idea of progress resulting in the disillusionment of a whole generation. People began to question the future of humanity. Upheavals were witnessed in long-established political, social, economic and religious patterns leading to instability of the 19^th century life. Disintegration of class structure in England, Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Great Depression led to a decline in confidence in a stable social, political and economic authority. Moreover, the weakening hold of religion gave rise to moral ambiguity and a "hanging in" situation for the post-war world.

Changing times also brought a growing attitude of impersonality, apathy and insensitivity. Population increased dramatically bringing about expansion of cities causing people to move further apart contributing to a diminished sense of security and community. The times were a paradox in themselves where on one hand; the world was becoming globalized while on the other, interaction of people was in decline. Individuals found no meaning in life, so they turned within themselves for answers.

It was in these tumultuous times that the Cultural Revolution, known as Modernism, burst forth.

Modernist Literature: Rebellion Against Tradition

Modernist writers reacted to these circumstances by turning towards the inner self. Instead of progress and advancement, they saw deterioration of civilization around them due to cold machinery which ended up making the individual solitary and alienated. They believed that the institutions they relied upon had failed to work properly and had led the civilized world into a bloody conflict. Therefore, their work broke away from established religious, political and social views. They devised a completely new method of writing which focused on the psychology of the individual.

Prominent Modernist Writers

Prominent modernist writers were Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Bowen, Dorothy Richardson, T. S. Eliot, Joseph Conrad, William Faulkner, Sylvia Plath, W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, D. H. Lawrence and Gertrude Stein.

Characteristics of Modernist Literature

Early modernist literature was influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx. Freud's psychological theory in particular attracted the attention of modern writers with its mystifying concept of conscious, subconscious and unconscious. Therefore, it focuses on the individual and his thought process; it is a "stream of consciousness" story in which past, present and future are intermixed and are in constant flux. Writers freely move forward and backward in time in a character's psyche paying little attention to what is happening in the world outside.

Some notable characteristics of modernist literature are:

Decay of Character and Hero

The psychological theories of Sigmund Freud made the modern writers interested in a deeper reality which involved a change in the portrayal of characters. They realized that human personality was not a comprehensible whole; it was far more complex than that. Therefore, they found that the traditional method of portraying characters in a social context was erroneous. Modern story goes deep into the subconscious, even the unconscious, to depict the individual at war with himself.

This psychological study of the depths of human nature has led to the death of both hero and villain in the traditional sense. Consequently, they also seem to have lost any claim to heroic action.

Decay of Plot

Modern story does not follow a chronological order. For modern writers, life does not fall easily into stories as according to them, it is not a continuous flow rather it is a series of separate moments and experiences. Therefore, they reject the conventional way of telling a story from beginning to end which has resulted in the decay of plot. This is the reason why most of the modern stories do not have a beginning or end. They are like incomplete sentences reflecting the incompleteness of a whole region of thought and belief. Hence, modernist literature requires an active reader; you need to work to make sense of it.

Stress on Individual

Since modernist literature has no connection with history or institutions, so in a modern story, there are no universally accepted values of social conduct which the individual must obey. Hence, there is a shift in the theme of modern writer: individual is more important for him than society. The psychological study of subconscious level reveals that every individual has a particular personality, but in order for love and peace to exist, an individual must respect the "otherness" of other individuals.

Only then, the world can exist harmoniously.

Realism

Modern stories are realistic in the sense that they reveal all the facts of contemporary life, pleasant as well as unpleasant. Life is presented with detached accuracy regardless of moral and ideological concepts. Writers tend to portray life as unordered. For them, there is no such thing as absolute truth; everything is relative. We live every moment for the first and the last time; even humans are in constant transition. Modernist literature is a portrayal of life as it is. Therefore, it shows a greater tendency towards realism.

Modernist literature is very popular among readers. With its antipathy of content and form, it challenges the readers to decipher it and grow wise.