Modern Day 1 - Modern Period

context

  • time period": late 1800s until mid 1900s

  • shift in social values, world view, and literary aesthetics → there must be a new period

  • key factors

    • world war I

    • easter rising

    • people/society feel fragmented, disillusioned

    • the great depression

      • mass unemployment, social unrest

    • world war II

    • freudian psychology

      • people beginning to explore their sense of self

    • loss of faith and religion

      • it feels like each period society goes back and forth between relying heavily on religion and completely dropping it

literature

  • novel, poetry (but in new/different ways), drama, essays and literary criticism

  • themes and motifs

    • alienation and disillusionment

      • people felt disconnected from society

    • identity and self exploration

    • time and memory

      • non linear narrative, playing with memory

    • loss and trauma

      • destruction of innocence

    • stream of consciousness

      • representation of a conscious flow of thought, allowing everything to flow through and not blocking anything out

    • embracing fragmentation and ambiguity

significance and impact

  • literary innovation

    • experimentation

  • feminist and gender perspectives

  • global impact

    • other countries being influenced by the english literary movement

  • expanded readership

    • people looking for a challenging read

the machine stops as a narrative text

  • presented episodically

    • experimental for the time

    • reader has to piece together context and story

  • humans are far too reliant on the machine

    • dangerous

    • humans are too reliant on nature and take it for granted

  • society is disconnected/isolated from each other

    • people are each in their own cells, they have no idea what’s going on other than what they are being allowed to know

  • pushing boundaries of literary tradition

  • critique of authoritarianism

reception

  • early recognition wasn’t really present

    • probably because people weren’t interested in sci fi yet

  • late recognition

    • anticipated the future really well

    • people communicating through somethin that looks a lot like zoom

    • bringing things to people instead of them getting it (amazon/food services)

  • themes of isolation and dependency

    • loss of real human connection

    • dependent on technology

sci fi genre

  • speculative of technology

  • futuristic or alien settings

    • without reality, the author has more freedom for worldbuilding

  • scientific plausibility

    • what if…

  • exploration of social issues

    • projects them into their own world

  • space and et

  • time travel

    • explore history, future, alternate timelines

  • scientific exploration and discovery

    • pursuit of knowledge and unravel mysteries of the universe

dystopian subgenre

  • totalitarian/oppressive regime

    • societal uniformity and conformity

    • loss of individuality

    • lack of freedom and privacy

    • resistance and rebellion

  • social stratification

    • pressure to conform

    • minority elite with privilege, and the majority suffer hardships

  • environmental decay or catastrophe

    • usually due to humans exploiting and taking advantage of nature

  • limited hope or ambiguous/bleak end

the machine stops as dystopian

  • technological dependence

    • providing everything for them, food, housing, entertainment

    • can’t imagine living without it

  • loss of human connection

    • emotionally detached

    • accustomed to isolation and loneliness

  • loss of individuality

    • conformity

    • cannot question authority

  • destructive nature of unchecked progress

  • environmental concerns

    • is it even real or are they just lying to keep control over everyone?