American modernism

American modernism

19th century to mid 20th century, characterized by formal innovation and exploration of modernity

Characteristics of modernist literature

Fragmentation, stream of consciousness, formal experimentation, emphasis on subjectivity

Phases of modernism

Avant-garde, high modernism, late modernism

Influences on modernism

WW1, psychoanalysis, technological advances, urbanisation

Imagism

Precision, economy of language, clear imagery, direct treatment of subjects

Harlem renaissance

1910s-1930s, celebrating African American artistic and intellectual achievements

Key figures Harlem renaissance

Alain Locke, W.E.B. DuBois, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes

Alain Locke ‘The new Negro’ 1925

Reimagined black identity, artistic expression, intellectual achievement

Themes in Harlem renaissance literature

Racial pride, identity, migration, resistance against stereotypes and oppression

T.S. Eliot ‘objective Correlative ‘

Emotion is conveyed through a set of objects, situations, events

The Ashcan school and the Armory show

Art movement empathising realism and introducing European modernist art to America in 1913