In What Sense Is The Modernist Literature Of The Early 20th Century Experimental? Essay - 1,186 words

In what sense is the modernist literature of the early 20th century experimental? The modernist literature of the early 20th century is experimental because it is cold, inscrutable, and unapproachable. Generally arts and literature reflect the public feelings and situations of the respective time period, or of that which preceded it. So the coldness, although it may seem unapproachable in todays society, was perfectly appropriate for the early and mid 1900s. It was a cold and unapproachable time. It was the beginning of World War I, for one thing. The effects of this massive war and destruction took its toll on the morale of the people as well as the artists.


Times were tense, everyone was on edge, and no one knew who to trust. By the time the war began winding down, not only were the nations of the world at odds with each other, uncertain of who was really an ally and who would turn into the enemy, but each countrys own citizens were at odds with their respective governments. Wilfred Owens work exemplifies the coldness and unapproachable feeling that even the soldiers faced from both their enemies and fellow countrymen. Owen is a good representative of the soldiers view point of behind the scenes in the war because he served for two years as a lieutenant with the Lancashire Fusiliers. His poetry portrays the horrors which many young soldiers faced on the battlefield. In his poems Owen evokes with great passion the pain of watching his friends, companions and enemies alike, be brutally maimed and murdered without a proper burial or so much respect as a moment of silence.


In one poem entitled Strange Meeting, he writes, And of my weeping something had been left,/Which must die now. I mean truth untold,/the pity of war, the pity war distilled./Now men will go content with what we spoiled,/Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled(Begley 23-27). These lines develop the realization that even in the depths of hell and death, these horrors will be unknown and unimportant to most. And those who do take vengeance in this tragedy, will only cause more of such hellish death in war. This country which the boys were sacrificing their lives for did not do much to reward or respect them, either. Owen compares the government and public support of the war to that of hometown fans: the war is a game to them. When, in reality, the soldiers saw horrors which afflicted them far worse than physical injury or even death.


People were eager to glorify the war and its purposes, if not completely ignore the tragedy because it was too hard for them to bear. The war and the atrocities of it are cold and unapproachable enough alone, add to that the lack of sympathy and its a wonder his literature was bearable at all. The horrible discourse of the war and the publics unattached reaction to it, was noticed and fought by other contemporaries of the time, such as the post-War generation, including W.H. Auden. His tense poetry contributed much of the same unapproachable feelings of the time. Due to his long life and extensive traveling excursions, his perspective covered the personal experience of many international political venues including the depression, Nazism, totalitarianism, WWII and the Holocaust, the atomic bomb, and the Cold War. Similar to the fears in Owens work, Auden portrayed a deep concern for the unsympathetic and disconnected attitude of the majority of the public toward the current political situation, as well as the literary world. ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: new york, york harper, harper collins, modernist, owen

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