Modernism Manifests
Through a variety of styles and subject matters the authors of our five completed novels have furnished the Modernist movement. Though inherently unique there are certain aspects of the selections that connect and allow them to fall under the broader heading of Modernist literature. The pure explorations in style, the baser language and the intense subject matter are all staples of Modernist literature.
Modernism is seen as an “adversary culture” (Singal, pg. 113). It is a rebellion and rejection of Victorianism’s idealistic and naïve culture. Rather then focusing on an “ideal of a stable, peaceful society free from sin and discord,” (Singal, pg. 114) Modernism emphasizes a depressing inability to escape from said discord, celebrating sin and freedom. This manifests in an “experimental side of literature,” (Bogan, pg. 109), away from the refined and stogy Victorianism, to a baser yet no less impressive form of writing. “[A] distilled sense of actuality: a sense of untoward squalor and specialized glitter; a sad and ugly pathos and an outmoded and naïve gaiety; a sense of the hidden massiveness of institutions opposed to an extreme particularization of individuals,” (Bogan, pg. 99). The writing style becomes varied and innovative. New stylistic endeavors, marked by stream of conscious and the unreliable narrator, Modernism is centered on the evils of institutions and the depravity of community.
Allen Ginsberg’s Howl is an example of Modernism revolting against Victorianism. Though Walt Whitman can be said to straddle the lines of Victorianism and Modernism it is the style of writing that reminisces Victorianism and it is this structure that makes Ginsberg’s common language and harsh criticism all the more biting and intensifies the poem itself. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,” (Ginsberg, pg. 9). His harsh worldview is a Modernist vision at the same time his style, borrowed from a previous age, thumbs its nose at old notions and belief structures.
A Book of Common Prayer by Joan Didion continues with this deterioration in the inherent goodness of the world. Rather then seeing an idealized world lacking sin and discord the book is centered on discord and the consequences of sin. The style is also a divergence from the traditional prose of the Victorianism era. Rather then a competent narrator the novel is read as if from a diary. Omnipotence is forgone in favor of a human and personal connection with the characters that enrich the turmoil in the novel, thrusting the reader into the same discord, enveloping them into the Modernist piece.
The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow takes things one-step further, continuing with the experimentation that runs the Modernist movement; it introduces an unreliable narrator, adding to the turmoil of life with the turmoil of the mind. Timelines are flowing backwards and forwards at once, thrusting uncertainty to the forefront of the novel. It’s symbolic of the times, the convoluted and uncertain time period during the cold war and the 1950s.
All three novels display the common contemporary experimentation with style and expression that Modernists took up in their attempts to relay their disgust and melancholy over societies downfall. Through innovative style and language the Modernists take traditional Victorianism and flip or ignore it all together, branching out into fresher and organic writing that’s more realistic and reflective of the war torn and sinful society that pervades everyday life.
Bogan, Louise. “Modernism in American Literature”. American Quarterly 2 (1950): 99-111.
Didion, Joan. A Book of Common Prayer. New York: Vintage Books, 1977.
Doctorow, E.L. The Book of Daniel. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1971.
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl. San Fransisco: City Lights Books, 1959.
Singal, Daniel Joseph. “Towards a Definition of American Modernism”. American Quarterly 39 (1981): 112-131.
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