modernism & f. scott fitzgerald - bengal...
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MODERNISM
&
F. SCOTT FITZGERALDNOTES FROM DON POGREBA, JEAN O’CONNOR, & J. CLARK
WHAT IS MODERNISM?
• A RESPONSE TO REALISM
• REALISM: LITERARY AND AESTHETIC MOVEMENT THAT EMPHASIZED
ACCURACY IN REPRESENTATION OF THE WORLD
• LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
• MODERNISM PUSHED BACK AGAINST THE STODGY CONFINES OF
REALISM
• QUESTIONED OLD ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT STRUCTURE, THOUGHT, THE HUMAN
EXPERIENCE, AND SOCIAL NORMS
REALISM
MODERNISM
HISTORICAL ROOTS
• WWI
• DISILLUSIONMENT: LOSS OF LIFE, FAILURE OF THE OLD
SYSTEMS OF GOVERNANCE AND BELIEF
• YOUNG PEOPLE QUESTIONED THE TRADITIONS AND BELIEFS
THAT THEY HAD BEEN RAISED ON & BECAME CRITICAL OF
GOVERNMENTS AND PHILOSOPHY
NEW INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENTS
• FREUD AND PSYCHOANALYSIS
• THE HUMAN BRAIN WAS DIVIDED INTO A CONSCIOUS AND
UNCONSCIOUS MINDS
• CONSCIOUSNESS: THE SMALL PART UNDER DIRECT CONTROL
• UNCONSCIOUSNESS: A STOREHOUSE OF FEARS, NEUROSES, SHAME, AND
UNCONTROLLABLE FEELINGS.
• THIS LED THE MODERNISTS TO QUESTION SOME OF THE
FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT ABOUT RATIONALITY
AND HUMAN DESTINY.
• MARXISM AND SOCIALISM
• CALLED INTO QUESTION THE VALUE OF THE INDIVIDUAL: HISTORY AND
HUMAN ENDEAVOR WERE THE PRODUCT OF SOCIAL FORCES AND
CLASS DYNAMICS.
• DARWINISM
• DARWIN POPULARIZED THEORIES OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL
SELECTION (1865) THAT CALLED INTO QUESTION THE CENTRALITY
AND SUPREMACY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, UNDERMINING BOTH
TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY.
PROHIBITION: 1920-33
• IN THE UNITED STATES, THE PROHIBITION MOVEMENT
UNDERMINED AUTHORITY FOR LAW AND RESPECT
FOR GOVERNMENT.
IN LITERATURE
• ILLUSTRATES THE BREAKDOWN OF SOCIETY UNDER THE PRESSURES OF
MODERNITY.
• CHARACTERIZED BY A STRONG SENSE OF DISILLUSIONMENT WITH OLD
VALUES, TRADITIONS, AND WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT THE WORLD.
• PLACED AN EMPHASIS ON ORDER BASED ON ITS ABILITY TO CONVEY THE
TRUTH OF EXPERIENCE, RATHER THAN BEING LIMITED BY ARBITRARY THINGS
LIKE CHRONOLOGY.
• THE BELIEF THAT READERS ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THE CREATION OF
MEANING.
• MEANING=READER + TEXT (A LA THE RHETORICAL TRIANGLE!)
• OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY DIRECT, COMPACT WRITING
• THE SHORT STORY GAINED PROMINENCE AS AN IMPORTANT LITERARY
FORM.
• NOVELS BECAME SHORTER, MORE COMPACT IN THEIR FOCUS
• EMPHASIS WAS GIVEN TO THE MEANS OF TELLING A STORY RATHER
THAN JUST THE STORY ITSELF.
• EMPHASIZED CONCRETE SENSORY IMAGES AND DETAIL AS THE BEST
WAY TO CONVEY EXPERIENCE.
• WAS VERY EXPERIMENTAL IN FORM
FITZGERALD: SYMBOLS• SOME OF THE DOMINANT THEMES WE WILL EXPLORE INCLUDE:
• SETTINGS
• POSSESSIONS
• COLORS
• YELLOW
• BLUE
• GREEN
• WHITE
• DESCRIPTIONS OF CHARACTERS
• RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
JUXTAPOSITION
• ONE PROMINENT EXAMPLE IS THE COMPARISON OF THE HOUSES THAT ARE LIVED IN BY NICK AND JAY:
• “MY HOUSE WAS AT THE VERY TIP OF THE EGG...AND SQUEEZED
BETWEEN TWO HUGE PLACES THAT RENTED FOR TWELVE OR
FIFTEEN THOUSAND A SEASON...MY OWN HOUSE WAS AN EYE-
SORE...I HAD A VIEW OF THE WATER, A PARTIAL VIEW OF MY
NEIGHBOR’S LAWN AND THE CONSOLING PROXIMITY OF
MILLIONAIRES- ALL FOR EIGHTY DOLLARS A MONTH”
FLASHBACKS
• REVEAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PAST OF CHARACTERS.
• FITZGERALD USES THE TECHNIQUE TO FILL IN DETAILS FOR
NARRATIVE POWER AND FOR THE SAKE OF KEEPING THE
AUDIENCE WONDERING, JUST AS THE CHARACTERS IN THE
NOVEL WONDER.
WITNESS POV
• “ORGANIC ARRANGEMENT”
• MODIFYING THE FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW TO MAKE NICK
CARRAWAY A WITNESS TO THE EVENTS.
• MAKES THE STORY MORE REASONABLE AND ENGAGING, BECAUSE
THE READER IS WILLING TO ACCEPT SOME OF THE LESS REALISTIC
ELEMENTS OF THE NOVEL, BECAUSE NICK WITNESSED THEM.
• NICK IS POSITIONED AS BOTH CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE EVENTS TO
WITNESS THEM AND DISTANT ENOUGH TO BE OBJECTIVE.
• IN A SENSE, HE HAS A JOURNALISTIC VOICE
TRANSGRESSION OF POV
• FITZGERALD OCCASIONALLY ALLOWS NICK OMNISCIENCE—TO SEE OTHERS’ THOUGHTS
• “AS I WENT OVER TO SAY GOOD-BY I SAW THAT THE EXPRESSION OF
BEWILDERMENT HAD COME BACK INTO GATSBY’S FACE, AS THOUGH
A FAINT DOUBT HAD OCCURRED TO HIM AS TO THE QUALITY OF HIS
PRESENT HAPPINESS. ALMOST FIVE YEARS! THERE MUST HAVE BEEN
MOMENTS EVEN THAT AFTERNOON WHEN DAISY TUMBLED SHORT OF
HIS DREAMS-NOT THROUGH HER OWN FAULT, BUT BECAUSE OF THE
COLOSSAL VITALITY OF HIS ILLUSION. IT HAD GONE BEYOND HER, BEYOND EVERYTHING. HE HAD THROWN HIMSELF INTO IT WITH A
CREATIVE PASSION, ADDING TO IT ALL THE TIME, DECKING IT OUT
WITH EVERY BRIGHT FEATHER THAT DRIFTED HIS WAY. NO AMOUNT OF
FIVE OR FRESHNESS CAN CHALLENGE WHAT A MAN WILL STORE UP IN
HIS GHOSTLY HEART. “
AMBIVALENCE
• EXISTENCE OF CONFLICTING THOUGHTS OR FEELINGS.
• THIS TERM DESCRIBES FITZGERALD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS
WEALTH.
• ON THE ONE HAND HE ADMIRES THE WEALTHY, AND WOULD
LIKE TO BE WEALTHY HIMSELF.
• ON THE OTHER HAND HE RECOGNIZES THE HOLLOWNESS OF THIS
GOAL, AND THE EMPTINESS OF THE LIFE THE WEALTHY OFTEN
LEAD
HEDONISM
• DEVOTION TO PLEASURE AND SELF-GRATIFICATION
AS A WAY OF LIFE.
• THIS TERM DESCRIBES F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S
ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE, AS WELL AS THAT OF SOME
CHARACTERS IN THE GREAT GATSBY.
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