Post 1914 Prose/Drama (OCR)

Contextual Background: Post-1914 World

The period after 1914 was marked by profound social, political, and cultural shifts that fundamentally altered literary landscapes.

• World Wars and Global Conflicts: The two World Wars (1914-1918, 1939-1945) shattered pre-war certainties, leading to widespread disillusionment, loss of faith in traditional values, and a sense of fragmentation and trauma. The Cold War and subsequent global conflicts continued to shape anxieties and themes.

• Social and Political Change:

  • Decline of Empire: The dismantling of European empires and the rise of new nations challenged established power structures and identities.

  • Rise of Totalitarianism: The emergence of fascist and communist regimes in Europe presented new forms of oppression and ideological conflict.

  • Socialism and Class Consciousness: Increased awareness of social inequalities and class divisions influenced literary themes and perspectives.

  • Feminism and Gender Roles: Significant shifts in gender roles and the rise of feminist movements questioned traditional patriarchal structures and representations.

  • Technological Advancements: Rapid technological progress, including mass media and the atomic age, brought both promise and anxieties about dehumanization and control.

• Philosophical and Intellectual Shifts:

  • Existentialism and Absurdism: Philosophies questioning the meaning of life, individual existence, and the nature of reality became central to literature.  

  • Psychoanalysis: Freud's theories about the unconscious mind and psychological motivations profoundly influenced character development and narrative techniques.

  • Modernism and Postmodernism: These movements challenged traditional literary forms, emphasizing subjectivity, fragmentation, and self-reflexivity.  

Key Literary Movements and Features

Post-1914 literature is characterized by a departure from Victorian and Edwardian conventions, embracing experimentation and reflecting the complexities of the modern world.

• Modernism (Early to Mid-20th Century):

  • Fragmentation: Reflecting the shattered world, narratives often abandon linear structures for fragmented timelines and perspectives.  

  • Subjectivity and Stream of Consciousness: Emphasis on individual perception and inner thoughts, often using stream of consciousness to represent the flow of consciousness.

  • Experimentation with Form: Breaking away from traditional narrative structures, verse forms, and dramatic conventions.

  • Symbolism and Imagery: Reliance on symbolic language and evocative imagery to convey complex emotions and ideas.  

  • Psychological Realism: Focus on the inner lives of characters, exploring psychological complexities and motivations.  

  • Examples in Prose: Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield.

  • Examples in Drama: Early T.S. Eliot, Luigi Pirandello.

• Theatre of the Absurd (Mid-20th Century):

  • Meaninglessness and Illogicality: Depicting a world devoid of inherent meaning or rational order.  

  • Cyclical and Repetitive Structures: Plays often lack traditional plot progression, emphasizing the futility of human action.

  • Deconstructed Language: Dialogue can be illogical, repetitive, and fail to communicate effectively, highlighting the breakdown of language and meaning.

  • Comedic and Tragic Elements: Blending humor with despair to reflect the absurd nature of human existence.  

  • Minimalist Settings: Often set in sparse, symbolic environments to emphasize the universal and existential nature of the themes.

  • Examples: Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Harold Pinter (later works), Edward Albee (some works).

• Postmodernism (Late 20th Century onwards):

  • Self-Reflexivity and Metafiction: Texts that are aware of their own constructed nature, often drawing attention to the process of storytelling itself.  

  • Intertextuality and Pastiche: Borrowing and blending elements from other texts and genres, often in a playful or ironic way.

  • Irony and Parody: Using irony and parody to question grand narratives and established truths.  

  • Blurring of Boundaries: Breaking down distinctions between high and low culture, fiction and reality, and genres.

  • Unreliable Narrators and Multiple Perspectives: Challenging the idea of objective truth through unreliable narrators and shifting viewpoints.  

  • Examples in Prose: Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes.

  • Examples in Drama: Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane, Martin McDonagh (some works).

• Social Realism and Political Drama:

  • Focus on Social Issues: Addressing contemporary social problems, inequalities, and political injustices.

  • Realistic Representation: Aiming for a truthful portrayal of everyday life, often focusing on working-class experiences and marginalized communities.

  • Engagement with Political Ideologies: Exploring socialist, feminist, and anti-establishment perspectives.

  • Examples in Prose: George Orwell, John Steinbeck (some works), Alan Sillitoe.

  • Examples in Drama: Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, John Osborne, Dennis Potter, David Hare.

Common Themes in Post-1914 Prose and Drama

These themes are frequently explored across various genres and movements within Post-1914 literature:

• Alienation and Isolation: Individuals struggling to find meaning and connection in a fragmented and impersonal modern world.

• Loss of Faith and Meaning: Questioning traditional religious and moral frameworks in the face of war and societal upheaval.

• The Absurdity of Existence: Exploring the inherent meaninglessness and lack of purpose in human life.  

• Trauma and Memory: Dealing with the psychological scars of war, violence, and historical trauma.

• Identity and Fragmentation of Self: Characters grappling with fractured identities and the instability of selfhood.  

• Power and Oppression: Examining social hierarchies, political power structures, and forms of oppression based on class, gender, race, etc.

• Communication and Language Breakdown: Highlighting the difficulties and failures of human communication in a complex world.

• The Nature of Reality and Illusion: Questioning the boundaries between reality, perception, and constructed narratives.

• Social Critique and Protest: Challenging societal norms, political systems, and inequalities.  

• Gender and Sexuality: Exploring evolving gender roles, sexual identities, and the complexities of relationships.

Example Authors and Playwrights

• Prose:

  • Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse) - Modernist, stream of consciousness, psychological realism, gender.  

  • James Joyce (Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man) - Modernist, stream of consciousness, urban life, Irish identity.

  • George Orwell (Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four) - Social realism, political satire, totalitarianism, dystopian themes.  

  • Kazuo Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go, The Remains of the Day) - Postmodern, unreliable narration, memory, identity, ethical dilemmas.  

  • Angela Carter (The Bloody Chamber, Nights at the Circus) - Postmodern, feminist, fairytale revisionism, magical realism.  

• Drama:

  • Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot, Endgame) - Theatre of the Absurd, existentialism, meaninglessness, cyclical structure.  

  • Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible) - Social realism, American Dream critique, tragedy, individual vs. society.

  • Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie) - Southern Gothic, psychological drama, social class, illusion vs. reality.

  • Caryl Churchill (Top Girls, Cloud Nine) - Postmodern, feminist, experimental form, gender and power, historical and contemporary issues.  

  • Sarah Kane (Blasted, Cleansed) - Postmodern, visceral and shocking drama, trauma, violence, social breakdown.

  • Harold Pinter (The Birthday Party, The Caretaker) - Theatre of the Absurd/Menace, ambiguity, power dynamics, language and silence.