LITERATURE OF THE

20TH CENTURY.
 Modernism, a movement that was a
radical break from 19th century
Victorianism, led to
postmodernism.
 20th century literature is a diverse
field covering a variety of genres.
 Prior to the 20th century, literature
tended to be structured in linear,
chronological order. .
 As more people moved to
cities in Europe and America,
novelists used urban
environments as backdrops for
the stories they told. Perhaps
the best known of these is
James Joyce's "Dubliners," a
series of short stories that all
take place in various locales in
Dublin.
 The 20th century gave voice
to marginalized people who
previously got little
recognition for their literary
contributions.
 Writers celebrated black
identity.
 Similarly, female writers
gained recognition through
novels that chronicled their
own experience.
 Modernism:
 Modernism supported the belief that
there is a purpose for life and that it
should be viewed objectively.
 The era of modernism was a time of
artistic and literary advancement.
 Modernist works were admired for their
simplicity and elegance.
 Postmodernism:
 It is movement that took place after the Second
World War, but it gained popularity in the 1960s.
 It was a chaotic era hard to comprehend and
apprise.
 It advocated the belief that there is no universal
truth.
 They believed that there is no connection between
the past and the present and that past events are
irrelevant in the present.
 The postmodernist era was characterized by the
advancement of technology and its use in music,
art, and literature.
 The Lord of the
Rings (1954/55,
150 million
copies),
 Harry Potter and
the Philosopher's
Stone (1997, 120
million copies).
 Then There Were
None (1939, 115
million copies).
 Important movements in
drama, poetry, fiction,
and criticism took shape
in the years before,
during, and after World
War I.
 At the beginning of the 20th century,
American novelists were expanding fiction's
social spectrum to encompass both high and
low life and sometimes connected to
the naturalist school of realism.
 Depression era literature was blunt and direct
in its social criticism.
 The period in time from the end of World War
II up until, roughly, the late 1960s and early
1970s saw the publication of some of the most
popular works in American history such as To
Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
 Hemingway, Faulkner, and
Steinbeck.
 Three authors whose writings
showed a shift from
disillusionment were Ernest
Hemingway, William
Faulkner, and John
Steinbeck.