Historical and Cultural Connections – Modernism and Social Context

Historical and Social Context of Modernism

Modernism was an age of disillusion, confusion, and irrevocable social change, but what factors contributed to this development, and what effects did it have on American literature? In this interactivity, use the timeline icon or the NEXT button to examine the rise of Modernism and its literary landmarks in greater detail. Click on the player button to begin.

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The American Dream

The devastation of World War I and the economic crash that followed shortly after effectively crushed the previously-held idea of America as a land of opportunity and nearly obliterated the concept of the American Dream. Idealism turned into cynicism, and many Americans began to question the authority of the government and the very foundations upon which the country was founded. The atrocities of war experienced on a global scale with World War I, the country's attempt to forget the devastation of the war throughout the 1920s, and the Great Depression following the economic crash gave way to feelings of disillusionment, or the loss of faith and trust in previously-held beliefs. For many, it became clear that there were other powers beyond their control that played a role in achieving their dreams. For many others, the dream itself changed. No longer was America the land of abundance and unlimited promise. There were limits, and the dream now had to fit within the newly-learned confines of a changed country and world.

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Often cited as one of the best American authors of the 20th century, F. Scott Fitzgerald lived a short life but produced many acclaimed works of fiction. He was born in 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in New York, Minnesota, and New Jersey. He showed promising talent even from a young age and was accepted to Princeton University. Fitzgerald focused his time on developing his writing and neglected his studies to the point where he was put on academic probation. In 1917, he dropped out of school and enlisted in the army. While stationed in Alabama, he met and fell in love with a southern belle named Zelda Sayre. The war ended before he was ever deployed abroad, and after leaving the army, he revised and published his first novel This Side of Paradise in 1919. One of the most popular books of the year, his novel was so financially successful that he convinced Zelda to marry him, and the two embarked on a life of luxury and glamour. Fitzgerald gave America its most colorful and accurate portrayal of the materialistic lifestyles common during the Roaring Twenties because he lived that lifestyle himself. However, only Fitzgerald's first novel earned him a substantial income, and the rest of his life he supported himself by writing short stories to sell to magazines and scripts for Hollywood. Unfortunately, Zelda became ill and spent the rest of her life in a mental institution, and Fitzgerald himself died of a heart attack at the early age of forty-four.

The influence of Fitzgerald's legacy has never diminished in American art. Many of Fitzgerald's works have been turned into motion pictures such as Tender is the Night, The Beautiful and Damned, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and of course his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Winter Dreams" perfectly illustrates the disillusionment and confusion of the Jazz Age within the ambition and broken dreams of the protagonist Dexter Green. Considered by some to be a "first draft" of Fitzgerald's masterpiece novel, The Great Gatsby, the story follows a young man in his journey to achieve his dream of acceptance into the wealthy upper class of society. Although he attains financial success, his futile pursuit of a beautiful socialite ultimately reveals the emptiness of superficial aspirations common among the glamorous upper class who sought fulfillment in material wealth.

This disillusionment and cynicism with the very foundations and tenets of America led artists and writers of the modern age to reject all the styles and forms that had been used before. Writers experimented with subjects, themes, styles, and forms in their writing. A new American literary hero developed, a hero who was inherently flawed and cynical. However, this hero, while struggling with his own loss of faith, adheres to his own sense of honor, courage, and compassion.

Elements of Modernism

These changes ushered in a new literary movement that was different from anything that had come before. But what characterized this new literary style known today as Modernism? In this interactivity, click the notes on the bulletin board to examine the four elements of Modernism in American literature. Click on the player button to begin.

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Modernist Novel Introduction

It is time to make a choice. You will be reading one of two novels throughout the duration of this module: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston or Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Each novel offers a different insight into the literary movement and genre of the modern novel. While both novels share a similar setting, they differ greatly in the elements of modernism they portray. Hurston's novel is more of a bridge between literary movements as it examines the role of black women in the south and what it means to be happy in life. Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men delivers a clear message about the plight of migrant workers and the laboring classes as well as their victimization by the economic conditions of the Great Depression. In essence, these novels reside on opposite sides of the same coin of Modernist literature. Which novel will you choose to explore?

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 in Alabama, but at the age of three her family moved to Eatonville, Florida, the nation's first fully incorporated African American township. When Hurston was thirteen years old, her mother died and her father and stepmother sent her away to boarding school. They eventually stopped paying tuition and Hurston was left to fend for herself, but she succeeded in continuing her education and eventually became a scholar of anthropology and African American folklore.

Although Hurston wrote some of the greatest works of literature during the 1930s and 1940s, she died penniless and forgotten in 1960. It was not until writer Alice Walker set out to find Hurston's unmarked grave and wrote about her efforts that Hurston was restored from literary obscurity. Some of her most celebrated works include Jonah's Gourd Vine; Moses, Man of the Mountain; and Dust Tracks on a Road.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hurston's most critically acclaimed novel is without a doubt Their Eyes Were Watching God. The story follows the life of Janie, a free-spirited African American woman in Florida whose idea of lifelong happiness means finding her true love. At a young age, Janie is pressured into marriage by her grandmother, and she spends the rest of her life trying to reclaim her dreams of happiness and bravely embarking on various adventures to do just that. Their Eyes Were Watching God is famous for its use of southern colloquial speech, the accurate portrayals of African Americans in the early 20th century, and new subjects previously untouched such as women's sexuality and autonomy.

John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck was born in 1902 in the fertile valley lands of Salinas, California. He studied literature and writing at Stanford University but left without taking a degree. After living in New York City for five years, he returned to California and published his first novel, Cup of Gold, in 1925. He finally gained popularity and financial security in 1935 with the publishing of his book Tortilla Flat, a collection of stories about Monterey's paisanos, or countrymen, who savor life after the end of the world war.

Steinbeck went on to publish many other favored works such as In Dubious Battle, The Pearl, East of Eden, and The Winter of Our Discontent. His masterpiece novel, The Grapes of Wrath, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The novel's story focuses on the plight of a working class family driven from their home during the great Dust Bowl storms of the Great Depression and their journey to California in search of a new future. The novel along with Steinbeck's impressive canon of literature earned the Nobel Prize in 1962.

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men takes place in Salinas Valley, California about a decade after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the start of the Great Depression. The story follows two friends named George and Lennie, wandering travelers who dream of owning their own land one day and being their own boss. Their dream frequently slips from their grasp as George struggles to look after Lennie, a man of great strength but limited intelligence who inadvertently runs into trouble. When Steinbeck first published Of Mice and Men in 1937, he achieved immediate commercial success. He revised the novel for the stage, where it won the 1937 Drama Critics Circle Award; two years later the play was adapted for film. However, the novel is not without its critics. According to the American Library Association, Of Mice and Men was one of the most frequently banned books in the United States during the 1990s. His critics object to the novel’s language. In his defense, Steinbeck answered that he wanted to show things as they really were.

 

Elements of Modernism Review

Now that you have explored the unique characteristics of the Modernism literary movement, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Read each question and identify the literary characteristic unique to Modernism, then select the appropriate answer. Click on the player button to get started.