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Roots of Modernism

Roots of Modernism. Realism Movement Post Civil War to early 1900s The Great War (1914-1918) The end of American innocence European Influences A new sense of experimentation and break from tradition The Great Depression Loss of faith in boundless American capacity. A Note on Realism.

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Roots of Modernism

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  1. Roots of Modernism • Realism Movement • Post Civil War to early 1900s • The Great War (1914-1918) • The end of American innocence • European Influences • A new sense of experimentation and break from tradition • The Great Depression • Loss of faith in boundless American capacity

  2. A Note on Realism • The horrors of the Civil War, in part, led to a new approach in American literature. • The realists tended to look at the small details of ordinary life. • Regionalism flourished as writers emphasized specific geographic settings in their stories. • The growth of biology, psychology, and sociology influenced writers’ examinations of people’s motivations.

  3. Four Men • Charles Darwin (1809-1882) • Karl Marx (1818-1883) • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

  4. Darwin • On the Origin of Species 1859 • theory of evolution that questioned the Biblical account of human existence • “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.”

  5. Marx • Das Kapital (1867) • traced economic injustices to the capitalist system • “Religion is the opiate of the masses.”

  6. Freud • The Interpretations ofDreams (1900) • Motives for human behavior are based on the unconscious • "Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires."

  7. Einstein • “Special Theory of Relativity” (1905) • Einstein’s work changed the way humanity has understood time, space, and in no small way—everything else. • “The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.

  8. Elements of American Modernism that we will explore in nearly every work we study—these are HUGE! • Disillusionment, Rejection, and Loss • Changing Social Roles/Belief that Society has become Fragmented • The Human Mind • Heroes—No Knights in Shining Armor but Fallible and Flawed

  9. The American Dream • We are the New Eden • We are the land of progress and opportunity. • We value the individual and self reliance.

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