Oct. 2
I decided to look at The Pound Era by Hugh Kenner for my book report project. My dad suggested this to me stating that it was the book to read if I was studying modernism. This book left me with a a few questions: what makes modernist literature? What is the essential piece to modernism? When does modernism end?
Modernism was a time for innovation and experimentation. Modernists threw out old ideologies and created their own. It was a time where people were no longer afraid, accepted the evolving state, and made something more of it. This reminds me of the term phantasmagoria in the Romantic era, which describes a fear (or shock) of new technology emerging. Romantics were not yet ready for what was to come or for thought of unfamiliar change. Modernists took this unfamiliarity and channeled it towards their art. The essential components to modernist literature includes an open mind, vulnerability, and courage.
The timeline of the modern era and the debate of when it starts/stops is on-going, but to me modernism never really ended. It served as the foundation for transformation and acceptance. Even the rebellious post-modernism holds an essence of modernist ideas and growth. I would say this current century starts to break down the ideologies of modernity and challenge them, but in a way there is still that connection to evolution and growth.
