literature review modernism

What is Modernist Literature?

PhD, Media Arts and English Literature (Royal Holloway, University of London)

Date Published: 25.07.2023 ,

Last Updated: 19.07.2024

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Defining modernism and modernity 

Modernist literature is the writing that instigated and responded to the culture of modernity . Questions of what modernity is or was and its convergence with modernism are still being unravelled and challenged in criticism today. In her article “ Definitional Excursions: The Meanings of Modern/Modernity/Modernism ” (2001), Susan Stanford Friedman describes these slippery terms as “constitut[ing] a critical Tower of Babel, a cacophony of categories that became increasingly useless the more inconsistently they are used”. Entire books have been dedicated to modernism’s manifold contradictions, such as Paradoxy of Modernism (2008) by Roland Scholes, who explores the tensions between old and new, emotion and impersonality, and high and low. Interpretations of modernism differ depending on what discipline you look to, and Friedman reminds us that such “[d]efinitional excursions” are always “fictionalizing processes, however much they sound like rational categorization” (2001), where each definition simply reveals the interests and standpoint of the person putting it forward. 

For the purposes of this introduction, we can—whilst treading carefully and remaining wary of totalizing definitions—think of modernity as the social conditions or contexts that developed in response to modern industrial capitalism in Western Europe. Constituted by many interwoven skeins and spools, modernity is a rich tapestry formed by many different threads: the rapid advancement of technology; urbanization; the expansion of railway networks, heightened mobility and international transport or migration; early feminism ; scientific innovation; secularization; new media like the cinema image; mass communication; shifting ideas around sex, sexuality, intimacy, and gender; the 1918 influenza epidemic; Sigmund Frued’s psychoanalytic theories and ideas of the subconscious; the watershed trial of Oscar Wilde and legislation around homosexuality; war and political turbulence. If modernity is a tapestry, modernism is the response to witnessing such a tableau. Modernism is the global literary, artistic, musical and architectural responses to the cultures of modernity. 

Of course, as experiments with modernist literature proliferated, modernism also shapes the conditions of modernity. Therefore, two engage in a catalytic and contentious exchange. Jessica Berman helpfully describes modernism as,

a constellation of rhetorical actions, attitudes, or aesthetic occasions,

Jessica Berman

where instead of a formal set of techniques, modernism—like a starry constellation at night—changes, depending on your critical perspective or vantage point.

Literary modernism’s core period of production

Emerging around the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, modernism also evades neat periodization. Its beginnings and endpoints are both contested: some studies see modernist experimentation ending with the Second World War in 1945 (Hanna, Key Concepts in Modernist Literature , 2008); others like Marjorie Perloff, Malcolm Bradbury and James McFarlane suggest that it ceased in 1930 (Perloff, “ Epilogue: Modernism Now ”, 2006; Bradbury and McFarlane, Modernism , 1976); Peter Childs suggests the end of “classic modernism” occurred one year earlier in 1929, and sees the 30s as the start of something else ( Modernist Literature , 2011). More recent scholarship has expanded modernism’s temporal remits, as Douglas Mao and Rebecca Walkowitz explore in their article “ The New Modernist Studies ” (2008): a broadening that encompasses work from the mid-1900s and after the “core period”, beyond the middle of the twentieth century. This querying of modernism’s definitional edges not only concerns temporal issues, but also spatial (looking beyond Anglo-American modernist experimentation) and vertical (encompassing high and low cultures) issues too, inviting exciting explorations into when, where and what can be considered modernist literature. 

Characteristics of modernist literature 

In the face of such change—what Bradbury describes as “the scenario of chaos” (1976)—writers attempted to understand and navigate the turbulent and tense world around them. They harnessed language to engage with big, existential questions and to represent the small, quotidian elements of modern life. Writers responded to modernity in many different and complex ways, experimenting with form, style and themes, ranging from the incredible 12 volume novel sequence Pilgrimage (1915 [2002]) by Dorothy Richardson, to poems that are just a handful of words long, like “ The Red Wheelbarrow ” (1938) by William Carlos Williams. Many different modernist movements or groups formed, which often encompassed or fostered certain literary styles or themes, such as the African-American experience and folk traditions in the Harlem Renaissance , the sparse clarity celebrated in Imagism , or illogical imagery of Surrealism , or the nonsense poems of Dada . 

Although modernist writers often held contradictory ideologies or aesthetics, Ulrika Maude summarizes: “[l]iterary modernism is characterized by dazzling experimentation, perplexing narrative and poetic form” (“Introduction”, The Bloomsbury Companion to Modernist Literature , 2018). In her description of modernist literature, Rita Felski includes “an aesthetic self-consciousness, stylistic fragmentation, and a questioning of representation” ( The Gender of Modernity , 1995), and Marianne DeKoven also identifies “simultaneity, juxtaposition, or ‘montage’ [and] ‘fragmentation’, paradox, ambiguity, and uncertainty”, along with “the demise of the integrated or unified subject” ( Rich and Strange , 1991). What follows is a non-exhaustive list of some of the literary characteristics that are typically associated with stylistic modernist play.

Stream of consciousness 

A stream of consciousness is a narrative technique used in fiction to capture and convey a character’s inner thought process or interior monologue, that attends to the unbroken flow—like a stream or a river—of consciousness and the impressions (both internal and external) that impact and affect it. These can be memories that might burst into the middle of a sentence; or the visual, auditory, haptic, or sensual happenings that can interrupt the progression of rational thought. Julian Hanna differentiates between interior monologue—which may relate to any character’s thoughts on the page—and stream of consciousness, where the latter is,

the more experimental style of representing consciousness in an apparently raw or unedited form, sometimes sacrificing intelligibility and conventional grammar in the process. (2008)

Julian Hanna

Many modernist writers play with this technique. It can be seen in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury (1929, [2009]), Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925 [2022]) and The Waves (1931 [2001]) . One of the most famous and oft-quoted examples are the final lines of James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922 [2017]), where Molly Bloom remembers her husband Leopold’s proposal in a flowing burst of unpunctuated free association: 

and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

James Joyce

Making it new 

Ezra Pound’s declaration of “make it new” is often presented as modernism’s mantra. Inflected with Imagist notions of the rejection of what came before, Pound’s rally embraced the contemporaneity of the present moment, biting at the future ( Make It New , 1935). Many modernist authors engaged with this sense of innovation and rupture.F. T. Marinetti, who founded the Futurist movement stated “[w]e want no part of it, the past” ( Manifesto of Futurism , 1909 [2016]); Woolf’s similarly wrote “On or about December 1910, human character changed” ( Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown , (1924 [2019]), acknowledging the difference between past and present; and T. S. Eliot believed that “[t]he perpetual task of poetry is to make all things new. Not necessarily to make new things” (“ Tradition and the Practice of Poetry ”, 1985), placing the emphasis on experimentation as opposed to outright originality. 

Modernist literature—with its experimental form, jagged edges and intense interiority—looks, in many ways, like a break from Victorian literature, and novelists like George Eliot and Charles Dickens. However, as with much modernist literature, there is a tension between a desire for rupture from the past and reconciliation, what Maude identifies as a “nostalgic yearning for a lost and at times primitive past” (2018). Friedman reminds us that: “Modernism requires tradition to ‘make it new.’” (2001). Even Pound’s catchphrase was not new. As Kevin Dettmar writes, Pound had “stolen it from a Chinese emperor, who’d had inscribed it on his bathtub. ‘Make it new,’ it would seem, was hardly a new idea” (2008). Just as modernist literature “makes it new”, blasting forward with experiment, innovation and play, it also looks back to the past. This thematic tension undercuts much of modernist literature, and is perhaps most famously expressed in the last lines of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925 [2003]) :

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter— tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.… And one fine morning—— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter— tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.… And one fine morning——

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Temporality 

The experience of time within modernity was shifting: the introduction of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in 1884 meant both public and private time was regulated. The popularization of attractions and spaces like the cinema and dance-hall allowed for leisure or pleasure filled pastimes; the growth of the railway network reduced the time it took to travel long distances; and the invention of the telephone in 1876 condensed the time it took to communicate. This process is known as time-space compression . Alongside these advances, Albert Einstein's 1916 General Theory proposed time as relative. Time was thus being experienced and conceived in different ways. The experience of time and the querying of such notions are significant characteristics of modernist literature, with many writers contorting linear notions of temporality.

Kate Haffey writes that modernist literature “is in some ways a literature of incoherence, a literature that continually breaks the rules that make narrative cohere” ( Literary Modernism, Queer Temporality , 2019). Indeed, often time is twisted, where traditional narratological tropes such as plot, and discrete ideas of a beginning, middle, and end are all undermined. This can be done in a number of different ways, such as: shifts in time, loops, tangents, big leaps into the future, or flashbacks where past memories take over the narrative, as in Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way (2017), where involuntary memory is triggered by a madeleine and a cup of lime blossom tea. Subverting a stable perspective, point of view, and linear characterization in the text also poses temporal issues. Many modernist works also subvert notions of closure or finality. For example, the ending of Voyage in the Dark (1935 [2019]) by Jean Rhys sees Anna wake from an abortion, where she drifts in and out of dreams in a rhythmic, sleepy stream of consciousness:

I lay and watched it and thought about starting all over again. And about being new and fresh. And about mornings, and misty days, when anything might happen. And about starting all over again, all over again… (1935 [2019])

Rhys’s last line drifts off ambiguously into what could be peaceful sleep, the end of her trail of thought, or death, leaving no sense of clarity or finality to the book’s end, thus playing with ideas of structure, time, and the novel. 

Other texts like Joyce’s Ulysses or Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway play with time in other ways: both of these depict the course of a day for their respective protagonists, Leopold Bloom in Dublin and Clarissa Dalloway in London. For Clarissa, Big Ben’s chimes resound throughout her day, “an immortal ode to Time” ( Mrs Dalloway, 2013) that looms over the text, ticking with timely questions about mortality. 

Fragmentation 

As a literary technique, fragmentation works against notions of cohesion, linear narratives, totality, or wholeness. Instead, it veers towards disintegration and dissonance. Hanna points towards an oft-quoted line from T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land as not only “one of the most famous lines of modernist literature”, but “also one of the most telling” (2008). The line reads: “[t]hese fragments I have shored against my ruins” (1922 [1998]), and is surrounded by further pieces of fragmented text. The entire poem itself is conveyed in anxious, alienated fragments. Odd imagery, references, allusions, intertextual fragments, and disembodied voices come together to form Eliot’s depiction of post-war London. As Maude observes, “modernist texts embody and perform the condition of modernity in their disparate, disjunctive, fragmented and often incongruently despairing formal qualities” (2018). The fragmented poems and prose speak to the fractures and fissure lines of modernity, wreaked by the trauma of war, political uncertainty, and economic instability. 

Fragmentation also engages with modernist notions of selfhood, identity, and consciousness. The idea of the unified sense of self was being rethought and challenged, where in Mrs Dalloway, Clarissa feels a sense of duality and ontological fragmentation that she hides from the outside world: she “had tried to be the same always, never showing a sign of all the other sides of her” (2013). In Langston Hughes’s “Elevator Boy” ( Collected Poems , 1994), indented lines are used to convey internal thoughts in the poem, in addition to the speaker’s voice; in “Afro-American Fragment” (1994), Hughes overtly engages with the fragmentation of Black diaspora . 

A sense of uncertainty or ambiguity can be seen in many modernist texts. Whether this is at a textual or thematic level, ambiguity works in tandem with the fragmented, unfinished, and paradoxical nature of modernism. For example, Kenneth Graham identifies an “epistemological ambiguity” within Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899 [2010]), around the very “idea that the act of communication in words is reliable” (“ Conrad and Modernism ”, 1996). The ending of Djuna Barnes’s Nightwood (1936 [2015]) resists any sense of stable meaning or truth, leaving the reader with an ambiguous and unsettling scene. Robin is sleeping in a chapel near her former lover Nora’s house and is awoken by Nora’s dog barking:

Then she began to bark also, crawling after him—barking in a fit of laughter, obscene and touching. [...] He ran this way and that, low down in his throat crying, and she grinning and crying with him; crying in shorter and shorter spaces, moving head to head, until she gave up, lying out, her hands beside her, her face turned and weeping; and the dog too gave up then, and lay down, his eyes bloodshot, his head flat along her knees. (Barnes, Nightwood, 2007)

The ambiguous content and language here resists finite knowledge, rationale, or understanding: it is unclear whether Robin is fighting, playing, or—as the “obscene and touching” motions imply—mating with the dog (Barnes , 2007). Barnes raises just as many questions as she leaves unanswered, leaving Nightwood unresolved and ambiguous. 

Jesse Matz argues that ambiguity attends to modernist literature’s morality, too. Matz notes how modernists like D. H. Lawrence were,

keen to free the novel from positive ethical responsibilities, expressing the prevailing mood when they described the novel as a form for direct, visceral, passionate engagement rather than moral advocacy [...] Moral certainties would become unavailable as the ambiguity of human motivation, the relative nature of goodness, and even the savagery of human appetites would have the last word. (Matz, 2008)

Edited by David Bradshaw & Kevin J. H. Dettmar

In a world fraught with questions about how to live, of good and evil, prompted by the horrors of modern warfare, modernist authors delved into the gray areas within their fiction. 

Intertextuality  

Modernist literature often borrows, weaves in, and alludes to other texts to further shape its own meanings. These can often be layered, complex, or obscure references, as in Eliot’s The Waste Land, which has an accompanying “notes” section to accompany the allusions. As Hanna notes, this resists a sense of closure that might come with finishing a text, as the intertextuality demands further engagement (2008). Hanna also observes that this may be where part of modernism’s “difficulty” arises: intertextuality can become,

a form of gate keeping, an exercise in exclusivity. This has long been the accusation levelled against modernism: the bar is set too high, suggesting a desire on the author’s part for an extremely select readership, or no readership at all. (2008)

Modernist literature often complicates easy answers. Intertextuality also allows for personal, unfinished, and multiple interpretations of a piece of work, where connections abound between and beyond textual echoes. 

H.D. weaves in Greek myth to her poetry and prose, as in her first Imagist poems like “ Epigram ” (1913), or in Helen in Egypt (1961), which recasts Greek and Trojan tales through the perspective of Helen, imagining a world where Helen never went to Troy. Greek myth is also harnessed in Joyce’s Ulysses, where the 18 episodes play on each of the sections within Homer’s Odyssey (2014) , and Leopold’s day-long wander around Dublin’s streets are paralleled with Odysseus’ epic ten-year journey to return home to Ithaca.

Modernism now? 

After the proliferation of modernist experimentation in the early twentieth century, Tyrus Miller suggests the advent of an interwar “late modernism” ( Late Modernism , 1999), where Barnes and Samuel Beckett sit; while Kristin Bluemel argues for the consideration of intermodernists that worked in mid-twentieth-century Britain ( Intermodernism , 2011), who are often neglected. Postmodernism teased out and fragmented modernist concerns into absurdity and playful experiment at the end of the twentieth century.

The progression of these movements and the history of modernism as a field of study are interesting and problematic tales in themselves. As Sean Latham and Gayle Rogers map out in Modernism: Evolution of an Idea (2015), the story of modernism that was first told was one that enforced a narrow canonicity and the idea of the “Men of 1914” (of Joyce, Eliot, Pound and Wyndham Lewis) that excluded and forgot many queer modernists, women, and people of colour. Vital revisionist scholarship has retrieved many works, in an ongoing process of expansion that brings us to new modernist studies today (Mao, 2021). As the field of study of modernist literature changes, dialogues about the trouble with modernism (Luke Seaber and Michael Shallcross, “ The Trouble with Modernism ”, 2019), and questions about its future have emerged, where Paul Saint-Amour pictures the critical field “as a group of travelers gathered around dwindling embers”, offering “maybe the fire was never the point, the dwindling having been the real occasion for the gathering” (“ Weak Theory, Weak Modernism ”, 2018). 

So, if there are New Modernist Studies and we are post-post-modernism, where are we now? Are we, as Robin van den Akker, Alison Gibbons and Tomotheus Vermeulen suggest, in a period of “metamodernism” ( Metamodernism , 2017)? Did we ever leave modernism or modernity? As Friedman writes in Planetary Modernisms (2015), “[o]nce again, modernity is reinvented. The New is Now. Once again”. She invites us to think of modernism outside of the long twentieth century and on a global–or planetary—scale, challenging modernism’s eurocentricity, and reminding us that, “[l]ike the modernity of which it is a part, modernism is also multiple, polycentric, relational, and recurrent” (Friedman, 2015). She identifies modernisms that developed before 1500, and argues that belated expressions and iterations are emerging today. 

What is clear is that modernism’s afterlives are still felt profoundly in our contemporary moment. Whether it is new literary modernisms forming today on a planetary scale; or in archives, with scholars retrieving long forgotten modernist texts, challenging notions of canonicity; or contemporary writers reimagining twentieth-century texts like Natasha Brown’s Assembly (2021), which was celebrated as a “modern Mrs Dalloway ” in The Guardian , or Kabe Wilson’s incredible project which re-used all of the words in Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929, [2014])   to create a new text, Of One Woman or So by Olivia N’Gowfri (even the title is an anagram of the original text and Woolf’s name); or as intertextual fragments, as in the third season of Netflix’s The Sinner (Simonds, 2020) , where lines from Eliot’s The Hollow Men (1925 [2022]) are repeated as a sinister leitmotif; or adapted to the screen themselves, as in Netflix’s Lady Chatterley's Lover (de Clermont-Tonnerre, 2022) and Passing (Hall, 2021) , or biographical interpretations like Colette (2018) , which explores the life of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, or Vita and Virginia (Button, 2018) , which tells the love story of Woolf and Vita Sackville-West; or in bookshops, libraries, and classrooms, rereading or discovering modernist writers for the first time: modernism continues to interest, intrigue, inspire, and (sometimes) irk us today. 

Further reading on modernist literature on Perlego 

Davison, S. (2017) Modernist Literatures . Bloomsbury Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2995982/modernist-literatures-pdf  

Latham, S. and Rogers, G. (2021) The New Modernist Studies Reader. Bloomsbury Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2106937/the-new-modernist-studies-reader-an-anthology-of-essential-criticism-pdf  

Marek, J. (2021) Women Editing Modernism. The University Press of Kentucky. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2655189/women-editing-modernism-little-magazines-and-literary-history-pdf  

Mao, D. and Walkowitz, R. (2006) Bad Modernisms . Duke University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1458212/bad-modernisms-pdf  

Okeke-Agulu, C. (2015) Postcolonial Modernism. Duke University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1458122/postcolonial-modernism-art-and-decolonization-in-twentiethcentury-nigeria-pdf  

 Smethurst, J. (2011) The African American Roots of Modernism . The University of North Carolina Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/538782/the-african-american-roots-of-modernism-from-reconstruction-to-the-harlem-renaissance-pdf  

External resources 

Davies, A. and Jenkins, L. (2007) The Cambridge Companion to Modernist Poetry . Cambridge University Press.

Garrington, A. (2013) Haptic Modernism . Edinburgh University Press. 

Marcus, L. (2007) The Tenth Muse . Oxford University Press. 

Marshik, C. (2015) The Cambridge Companion to Modernist Culture . Cambridge University Press. 

Platt, L. (2011) Modernism and Race . Cambridge University Press. 

What are the key elements of modernist writing? 

The main elements of modernist writing include experiments with form and style, stream of consciousness, free verse, interiority, fragmentation, ambiguity, questioning of traditional narratological techniques, self-conscious play with aesthetics, intertextuality, and allusion.

When was the core period for literary modernism? 

Critics generally position the most active period of literary modernist production between 1890 to 1945. Some view the 1920s a period of “high modernism”, when T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Ezra Pound, Franz Kafka and others were all publishing works that are regarded as pivotal modernist texts.

Who are some of the most famous modernist writers? 

Some of the most famous modernist writers are: Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, H.D., Dorothy Richardson, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, D. H. Lawrence, William Faulkner, Wallace Stevens, Ezra Pound, Katherine Mansfield, Gertrude Stein, Djuna Barnes, Mina Loy, Marianne Moore, Franz Kafka, E. E. Cummings, Jean Rhys, Wyndham Lewis, Elizabeth Bowen, and Samuel Beckett.

What are some examples of modernist novels? 

Some examples of modernist novels are:

• Ulysses by James Joyce
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
• Nightwood by Djuna Barnes

What are some examples of modernist poetry? 

Some examples of modernist poetry are: T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, Sea Garden by H.D., Hart Crane’s “The Bridge”, and Mina Loy’s Songs to Joannes.

What are some examples of modernist short stories? 

Some examples of modernist short stories are: “Dubliners” by James Joyce, “Sweat” by Nora Neale Hurston, “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, and “Kew Gardens” by Virginia Woolf

What are some examples of modernist plays? 

Some examples of modernist plays are: “The Antiphon” by Djuna Barnes, “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett and “Exiles” by James Joyce

Bibliography 

Akker, R., Gibbons, A., and Vermeulen, T. (2017) Metamodernism . Littlefield International. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/573700/metamodernism-historicity-affect-and-depth-after-postmodernism-pdf  

Baker, H. (2013) Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance . The University of Chicago Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1851699/modernism-and-the-harlem-renaissance-pdf   

Barnes, D. (2015) Nightwood. Faber and Faber. Available at: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571322862-nightwood/  

Berman, J. (2012) Modernist Commitments . Columbia University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/774892/modernist-commitments-ethics-politics-and-transnational-modernism-pdf

Bluemel, K. (2011) Intermodernism: Literary Culture in Mid-Twentieth-Century Britain. Edinburgh University Press. Available at: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-intermodernism.html  

Bradbury, M. and McFarlane, J. (1976), Modernism: 1890–1930. Penguin. 

Brown, N. (2021) Assembly. Penguin. Available at:  https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/444275/assembly-by-brown-natasha/9780241992661  

Childs, P. (2011) Modernist Literature: A Guide for the Perplexed . Bloomsbury Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/805886/modernist-literature-a-guide-for-the-perplexed-pdf  

Westmoreland, W. (2018) Colette . Bold Films, British Film Institute and HanWay Films. Available at: Netflix. 

Collins, S. (2021) “Assembly by Natasha Brown Review - A Modern Mrs Dalloway”. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/12/assembly-by-natasha-brown-review-a-modern-mrs-dalloway  

Conrad, J. (2010) Heart of Darkness . William Collins. Available at: 

https://www.perlego.com/book/670071/heart-of-darkness-pdf  

DeKoven, M. (1991) Rich and Strange: Gender, History, Modernism . Princeton University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2574869/rich-and-strange-gender-history-modernism-pdf   

Eliot, T. S. (1985) "Tradition and the Practice of Poetry, with an Introduction and Afterword by A. Walton Litz", The Southern Review. 21(4). Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/1291538605  

Eliot, T. S. (1998) The Waste Land . Perlego. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1713774/the-waste-land-pdf    

Eliot, T. S. (2022) The Waste Land, Prufrock, The Hollow Men and Other Poems . Dover Publications. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3277503/the-waste-land-prufrock-the-hollow-men-and-other-poems-pdf  

Faulkner, W. (1995) The Sound and the Fury. Vintage Classics. 

Felski, R. (1995) The Gender of Modernity . Harvard University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1148406/the-gender-of-modernity-pdf   

Fitzgerald, F. S. (2003) The Great Gatsby. Scribner. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/780773/the-great-gatsby-pdf  

Friedman, S. S. (2001) “Definitional Excursions: The Meanings of Modern/Modernity/Modernism ” in Modernism/modernity. 8(3). Available at: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/23422/pdf

Friedman, S. S. (2015) Planetary Modernisms . Columbia University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/773635/planetary-modernisms-provocations-on-modernity-across-time-pdf

Graham, K. (1996). “Conrad and modernism”, in Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad . Ed. by Stape, J. H. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-joseph-conrad/8971D49A21D62BF3753DD780E4C7BCA9#:~:text=Book%20description,novelists%20of%20the%20twentieth%20century . 

Haffey, K. (2019) Literary Modernism, Queer Temporality . Springer International Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3493017/literary-modernism-queer-temporality-eddies-in-time-pdf  

Hall, R. (2021) Passing. (2021)

Hanna, J. (2008) Key Concepts in Modernist Literature. Bloomsbury Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2997555/key-concepts-in-modernist-literature-pdf  

H.D. (1913) “Epigram”, Poetry, 1(4). Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=12628  

Homer (2014) Odyssey . HarperCollins. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/601870/odyssey-pdf  

Hughes, L. (1994) The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Vintage Classics. 

Joyce, J. (2017) Ulysses . Delphi Classics. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1654296/ulysses-by-james-joyce-illustrated-pdf  

de Clermont-Tonnerre, L. (2022) Lady Chatterley's Lover. Available at: Netflix. 

Latham, S. and Rogers, G. (2015) Modernism: Evolution of an Idea . Bloomsbury Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/395130/modernism-evolution-of-an-idea-pdf  

Mao, D. (ed) (2021) The New Modernist Studies . Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/new-modernist-studies/F64A938DE6FD5F807249FC3293947EEB  

Mao, D., and Walkowitz, R. L. (2008) “The New Modernist Studies”, PMLA. 123(3).

Marinetti, F. T. (2016 ) The Manifesto of Futurism . Passerino. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2099553/the-manifesto-of-futurism-pdf    

Matz, J. (2008) “The Novel” in Bradshaw, D. and Dettmar, K. (eds) A Companion to Modernist Literature and Culture Wiley. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2748519/a-companion-to-modernist-literature-and-culture-pdf   

Maude, U. (2018) “Introduction” in Maude, U. and Nixon, M (eds) The Bloomsbury Companion to Modernist Literature . Bloomsbury Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/817728/the-bloomsbury-companion-to-modernist-literature-pdf

Miller, T. (1999) Late Modernism: Politics, Fiction and the Arts between the World Wars. University of California Press. Available at: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520216488/late-modernism  

Perloff, M. (2006), “Epilogue: Modernism Now”, in Bradshaw, D. and Dettmar, K. J. H. (eds) A Companion to Modernist Literature and Culture Wiley. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2748519/a-companion-to-modernist-literature-and-culture-pdf  

Pound, E. (1935) Make It New. Yale University Press. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/make-it-new-by-ezra-pound  

Proust, M. (2017) Swann’s Way . Delphi Classics. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1654629/swanns-way-by-marcel-proust-delphi-classics-illustrated-pdf  

Richardson, D. (2002) Pointed Roofs . Perlego. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1817929/pointed-roofs-pilgrimage-volume-1-pdf  

Rhys, J. (1969) Voyage in the Dark. Penguin. 

Saint-Amour, P. (2018) “Weak Theory, Weak Modernism”, Modernism/modernity, 3(3). Available at: https://modernismmodernity.org/articles/weak-theory-weak-modernism  

Scholes, R. (2008) Paradoxy of Modernism . Yale University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1089298/paradoxy-of-modernism-pdf  

Seaber, L. and Shallcross, M. (2019) “The Trouble With Modernism: A Dialogue”, The Modernist Review. Available at: https://modernistreviewcouk.wordpress.com/2019/06/28/the-trouble-with-modernism/  

Simonds, D. (2020)The Sinner: Series 3. Available at: Netflix. 

Button, C. (2018) Vita and Virginia (2018) Piccadilly Pictures, SQN Capital and Protagonist Pictures. 

Williams, W. C. (1938) “The Red Wheelbarrow”, in The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Volume I, 1909-1939 , ed. by MacGowan, C. New Directions. Available at: https://www.ndbooks.com/book/the-collected-poems-volume-i-1909-1939/  

Woolf, V. (2013 ) Mrs Dalloway . HarperCollins. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/671191/mrs-dalloway-pdf  

Woolf, V. (2014) A Room of One’s Own . HarperPerennial Classics Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/600353/a-room-of-ones-own-pdf  

Woolf, V. (2019 ) The Waves . Heritage Books. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2907769/the-waves-pdf  

Woolf, V. (2019) Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown. Heritage Books. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2907765/mr-bennett-and-mrs-brown-pdf  

Polly Hember is a researcher, writer, and visiting tutor working on modernism and queer networks. She holds a PhD in Media Arts and English Literature from Royal Holloway, University of London, where her doctoral thesis attended to the neglected literary works of “the POOL group”. Her research interests include twentieth-century literature, queer theory, affect studies, technology, and visual cultures. She has published in Modernist Cultures and Hotel Modernisms (Routledge, 2023), and currently co-hosts the Modernist Conversations podcast. 

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How Modernism in Literature Changed Storytelling Forever

What Are the Main Characteristics of Modernist Literature?

Prominent modernist authors and works, themes in modernist literature, modernism’s influence on later literary movements.

It's the early 20th century, and the world is changing faster than anyone can keep up. War is tearing countries apart, cities are growing like never before, and machines are starting to replace people in ways that feel both exciting and terrifying. 

Naturally, writers start looking at this mess of a world and think, "Why are we still telling stories the old-fashioned way?" So, they throw out the rulebook and start experimenting, which is how modernism in literature was born.

Modernism in literature was all about breaking away from tradition. Writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf weren’t interested in following the usual plot structure or using language that played it safe. They turned to fragmented storytelling, inner monologues, and characters who didn’t always make sense (but that was the point!). They wanted to capture how messy, chaotic, and downright strange life felt at the time. 

In modernism in American literature, you see authors like Hemingway and Faulkner ditch the polished narratives and embrace a raw, disillusioned literary style that reflected the confusion and uncertainty of the time.

This article will guide you through the key aspects of modernism in literature, with a special focus on how it reshaped American writing. 

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When it comes to modernist literature, things get interesting. Forget predictable plots and tidy endings — this literary movement broke all the rules. The key characteristics of modernism include fragmented narratives, stream-of-consciousness writing, rejection of traditional realism, symbolism, and pessimism and disillusionment.

Fragmentation

One of the standout characteristics of modernism is fragmentation. 

Instead of following a straight, easy-to-follow storyline, modernist writers like T.S. Eliot and James Joyce opted for non-linear plots and fragmented narratives. It’s not always clear how events connect, but it mirrors the chaos and uncertainty of life during this time. 

In The Waste Land , for example, Eliot jumps from one voice to another, creating a patchwork of ideas that feels disjointed yet somehow whole. Joyce's Ulysses does this too, constantly shifting perspectives and timeframes to keep readers on their toes. 

Stream of Consciousness

Another hallmark of modernism in American literature (and beyond) is the use of stream-of-consciousness. 

Writers like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce took readers inside their characters' minds, presenting thoughts as they come: raw, unfiltered, and often jumbled. This technique abandons the typical tidy, structured narrative. Instead, it mirrors how people actually think, with ideas jumping from one thing to another. 

Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is a great example, where the narrative slips between characters’ inner worlds. Joyce's Ulysses does it too, creating a vivid, chaotic mental landscape that reflects real human consciousness.

Rejection of Traditional Realism

Modernism in literature took a hard turn away from traditional realism. 

Writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner didn’t just want to describe the outside world; they wanted to get inside people's heads. Instead of focusing on one "true" version of events, modernists emphasized subjective reality, giving us multiple perspectives to understand the complexity of human experience. 

In The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald plays with unreliable narrators to show that reality is shaped by perception. Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying uses shifting viewpoints, with each chapter told from a different character’s perspective, letting us see how reality changes based on who's telling the story. 

Use of Symbolism

Modernism in English literature is packed with symbolism, where objects or images carry deeper, often elusive meanings. Writers didn’t just tell you what characters were thinking; they used symbols to hint at bigger, often more complicated ideas.  

For instance, in The Great Gatsby , the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock isn’t just a light — it’s Gatsby’s unattainable dream and a symbol of the unreachable American Dream. And it’s not just Fitzgerald — T.S. Eliot did this too in The Waste Land , where something as simple as water could symbolize both life and death. 

Modernist artists and writers loved using symbols to express emotions, desires, and frustrations that couldn’t be put into straightforward words, making their works feel richer and more open to interpretation.

By the way, if you’re curious about poetic devices like hyperbole, check out this guide on hyperbole in poetry for a deeper look.

Pessimism and Disillusionment

One of the biggest characteristics of modernism is its deep sense of pessimism and disillusionment, especially after the shock of World War I. 

Writers like Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway (some of the brightest modernism examples in literature) moved away from the old, optimistic worldview, focusing on personal alienation and the loss of meaning in human existence.

In Mrs. Dalloway , Woolf gets into the characters’ heads, showing how disconnected and empty they feel, even in the middle of their everyday lives. Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises nails the vibe of the "Lost Generation"—people wandering around, trying to find meaning in a world that feels broken.  

James Joyce - Ulysses

James Joyce’s Ulysses is one of those books that pushes the boundaries of modern-period literature. The whole story takes place over just one day in Dublin, but don’t let that fool you — it’s anything but simple. Joyce uses stream of consciousness to explore the minds of his characters, showing their thoughts in real time, jumping around from memories to random observations, just like how we actually think. 

The novel is complex, playing with ideas of time, identity, and consciousness. There’s no clean, straightforward plot. Instead, the book constantly shifts between perspectives, making readers work to piece things together. It’s a challenging read, no doubt, but that’s also what makes Ulysses such a standout in modern-period literature. If you’re up for it, it’s a wild ride that really makes you think.

T.S. Eliot – The Waste Land

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is one of the best examples of modernism in literature, and it’s all about showing how messed up the world felt after World War I. The poem’s fragmented structure — constantly jumping between different voices, perspectives, and even languages — makes it feel chaotic, which is exactly how people felt at the time. 

There’s no clear, linear story, and that’s on purpose. The confusion in the poem mirrors the confusion people were dealing with in a world that didn’t make sense anymore.

On top of that, Eliot throws in myths and literary references, from ancient Greek stories to Shakespeare. By doing this, he’s comparing the richness of the past to the emptiness of the present. It’s like he’s saying, “Look at how far we’ve fallen.”  

Virginia Woolf – Mrs. Dalloway

In Mrs. Dalloway , Virginia Woolf does an incredible job of exploring time and memory, which is a huge part of modernism in English literature. Instead of telling the story in a straight line, Woolf jumps between the present and the characters' memories, making time feel fluid and personal. You’re constantly inside the characters’ heads, watching them drift between their thoughts.

One of the coolest symbols in the book is Big Ben’s chimes. Every time the clock strikes, it’s like a reminder that time is passing, and none of us can escape it. For Clarissa, the sound brings up all sorts of memories, from old regrets to reflections on her choices. It’s a quiet but powerful way of reminding us of mortality, showing how time keeps ticking, whether we’re ready for it or not. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of the best snapshots of the Roaring Twenties, but it’s also a sharp critique of the American Dream, seen through a modernist period lens. Fitzgerald paints a vivid picture of the glitz and glam of the time: lavish parties, fast cars, and big money. But underneath all that sparkle is a sense of emptiness. 

Fitzgerald uses symbolism to really drive this home. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, watching over everything, symbolize the moral decay hiding behind all the wealth and success. Through Gatsby’s story, Fitzgerald explores the gap between illusion and reality, showing how the American Dream, for many, was more of a fantasy than a real, achievable goal.

William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury is one of the best modernism examples in literature, especially with how he uses multiple perspectives and stream of consciousness to dig into the downfall of a Southern family. 

Faulkner doesn’t tell the story in a straightforward way. We see the family’s collapse through different characters' eyes, each with their own perspective, which makes the whole thing feel fragmented and chaotic — kind of like life itself.

The first section is from Benjy’s point of view, and since he has a mental disability, his thoughts jump between different moments in time, making it hard to tell what’s happening. Then we get Quentin’s perspective, which is just as confusing, as he wrestles with family honor and guilt. 

Faulkner uses these broken perspectives to show the decline of Southern values and how the Compson family is stuck in the past, unable to move forward. 

Marcel Proust – In Search of Lost Time

Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is all about memory, time, and figuring out who we really are, but he doesn’t tell it in a simple, straightforward way. The story jumps around a lot, reflecting how memory actually works in real life. One second you’re in the present, and the next, something smal (like the taste of a madeleine) pulls you right back into the past.

Proust shows how our memories shape who we are and how we see the world. The non-linear narrative makes the whole book feel like an exploration of the self, with past moments constantly popping up and changing the way the narrator views his present. It’s a long, intricate read, but Proust captures the messiness of memory and identity in a way that feels true to life.

Ernest Hemingway – The Sun Also Rises

In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway doesn’t go overboard with descriptions or emotions, which actually makes the characters’ struggles hit harder. His writing style is all about letting readers read between the lines.

The story follows a group of people who survived World War I, but they’re totally lost, just drifting through life. Jake Barnes, the main character, is dealing with the emotional scars of the war, but Hemingway doesn’t spell it all out for you. Jake’s pain shows through his actions (or sometimes lack of action). The endless drinking, bullfights, and aimless travel are all ways these characters try to find meaning in a world that feels empty. 

Hemingway’s stripped-down style perfectly captures the disillusionment of a new generation trying to make sense of life after the war.

Gertrude Stein – Tender Buttons

Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons is one of those works in modern-period literature that changes the way we think about language. There’s no traditional story or plot here. Stein focuses on the way words sound and feel, playing with repetition and abstraction. It’s like she’s breaking the rules of how we expect words to work.

In Tender Buttons , Stein takes everyday things — like a chair or a cup — and describes them in ways that don’t always make sense at first. She repeats words and phrases in new forms, almost like she’s asking us to look at the world differently through language. She’s not trying to tell a typical story; she’s exploring how language can create its own reality.

Ezra Pound – Cantos

Ezra Pound’s Cantos is one of the most ambitious works in modernist poetry, but it’s not the kind of poem you sit down and casually read. It’s full of allusions, fragments, and references to everything from ancient Chinese philosophy to European politics. It jumps around a lot, and that’s exactly what makes it so unique. 

Pound was a huge figure in shaping the modernist movement in poetry, especially with his focus on Imagism, where the goal was to use sharp, clear images to convey meaning. In Cantos , he combines this with a fragmented style that makes you work to piece everything together. Cantos reflects how modernist poetry wasn’t afraid to experiment and break away from traditional forms.

Jean Rhys – Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea is a prequel to Jane Eyre , but Rhys flips the script, giving us Bertha Mason’s (Antoinette’s) side of the story. And she doesn’t hold back.

Rhys uses a fragmented narrative that jumps between different perspectives and timeframes, which mirrors the confusion and trauma Antoinette faces. This style pulls you into her fractured experience of living in a colonial world where she’s constantly struggling with her identity. 

Rhys also goes deep into the psychological side of things, showing how the pressures of race and colonialism mess with Antoinette’s sense of self. 

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Modernist themes often focus on feelings of alienation, disillusionment, the loss of social norms, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world.

1. Alienation and Isolation

In the literature of the modernist period, alienation is a key theme. Modernist characters often feel completely disconnected from the world around them, struggling to find their place in a society that seems to have lost its way. They’re constantly asking big, existential questions like, “Who am I?” or “What’s the point of all this?” but they rarely find satisfying answers.

Take A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, where Stephen Dedalus feels isolated from his family, religion, and culture as he tries to carve out his own identity. Or look at Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway , where Septimus, a shell-shocked World War I veteran, feels totally cut off from society.

These stories capture the modernist themes of alienation in a world that no longer feels familiar or comforting.

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2. The Breakdown of Social Norms

A big part of modernism in literature is how it shows the breakdown of traditional social and moral structures. After World War I, the world was in chaos, and the old ways of thinking just didn’t seem to work anymore. Modernist characters are often stuck in a world where the usual rules don’t apply, and they’re left trying to figure out how to live in this new, uncertain reality.

In The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald paints a picture of the Roaring Twenties, where people chase after money, status, and pleasure, ignoring the values that once mattered. The American Dream isn’t what it used to be — it’s all about materialism and empty success. T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land takes it even further, showing a world that’s spiritually and culturally falling apart.

In modernism in literature, you see characters dealing with a world that’s lost its moral compass, trying to navigate through the confusion.

3. The Search for Meaning in a Chaotic World

Characters are often on a quest to find meaning in a modern world that feels completely chaotic. After World War I, everything felt off-balance: old beliefs didn’t seem to work anymore, and people were left wondering what it all meant. Modernist characters try to make sense of it, but the frustrating thing is, they rarely find clear answers.

In Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises , you’ve got characters hopping from party to party, drinking, and chasing after love, but deep down, they’re trying to figure out what actually matters. It’s the same in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway , where characters like Septimus are stuck in this mental battle, trying to understand life after the horrors of war.

Influence on Postmodernism

Modern-period literature had a huge impact on postmodernism, especially with its use of fragmented narratives, unreliable narrators, and a focus on subjective realities. These modernist techniques became building blocks for postmodern writers, who pushed them even further to question the nature of truth and reality.

Take Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five , for example. The novel jumps back and forth in time, much like the fragmented storytelling in modernist works, and the narrator himself isn’t always reliable. Vonnegut uses these techniques to critique war and society, blending reality with fantasy to show the absurdity of human conflict. 

This kind of storytelling directly draws on modernist experiments with structure and narration, but postmodernists like Vonnegut took it a step further, adding layers of irony and dark humor.

In postmodern literature, you see the same focus on subjective reality that modernism explored, but with an even greater emphasis on questioning everything, from societal norms to the idea of a stable, objective truth. Modernism opened the door, and postmodernism ran with it.

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Enduring Legacy in Contemporary Literature

Modernist literature might seem like it’s from a different time, but its influence is still all over today’s fiction. Writers like Haruki Murakami and Zadie Smith are great examples of how those old-school modernist techniques still work today.

Murakami, in books like Kafka on the Shore , blurs the lines between what’s real and what’s not, weaving different perspectives into one story. It feels a lot like something James Joyce or Virginia Woolf would do, where you’re never quite sure what’s happening.

Zadie Smith, in White Teeth , also plays with multiple viewpoints and gets deep into themes of race, culture, and identity. She takes those modernist tricks — like fragmented storytelling — and uses them to make you think about today’s world.

Modernism in literature completely changed how stories were told, ditching the old, straightforward methods for more experimental techniques like fragmented narratives and stream of consciousness. 

It gave writers the freedom to explore themes like identity, isolation, and the complexity of human experience in a much deeper way. That influence didn’t stop with modernism and continues to shape how writers think about storytelling today.

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What is Modernism in Literature?

Modernism in literature is all about breaking away from traditional storytelling. Writers experimented with new techniques like fragmented narratives and stream of consciousness, focusing on themes like identity, alienation, and the messy reality of life in a rapidly changing world.

What is the Main Idea of Modernism in Literature?

The main idea of modernism in literature is to challenge old ways of thinking and writing. Modernist writers explored the complexities of human experience, questioning reality, tradition, and societal norms, often showing how disconnected and chaotic life could feel.

What are the Three Main Elements of Modernist Literature?

The three main elements of modernist literature are fragmented narratives, stream of consciousness, and a focus on inner psychology. These techniques helped modernist poets and writers explore how messy, unpredictable, and complex human life and thought really are.

• University of Victoria. (n.d.). Modernism . UVic Libraries. https://libguides.uvic.ca/modernism
• Britannica. (n.d.). Modernism . Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Modernism-art

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Modernism in Literature: Definition, Characteristics, Examples, and More

The Industrial Revolution – and the rapid industrialization that followed it – marked the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But new technologies didn't only change the ways of manufacturing. They also made writers reconsider their attitudes toward the established norms of the craft. Out of this cultural shift, one of the most compelling literary movements was born: modernism.

Modernism in literature is the act of rebellion against the norms on the writers' part. They refused to conform to the rules any longer. Instead, they sought new ways to convey ideas and new forms of expressing themselves. In their opinion, the old ways of writing simply couldn't reflect the rapid social change and a new generation born out of it.

Today, let's take a deep dive into modernist work. What is modernism in literature? What are the key characteristics that set it apart from other literary movements? What modernism in literature examples reflect the movement's qualities the best? And who can represent modernism in American literature?

You'll find the answers to all of these questions – and more – below!

What is Modernism in Literature

As any physic helper would advise you to approach a subject, let's start with one crucial question: ‘What is modernism?’

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term 'modernism' as a practice characteristic of modern times and seeking to find original means of expressing oneself. Modernism was a movement not just in literature but also in arts, philosophy, and cinema.

As for the modernism in literature definition, the same dictionary describes it as a conscious break from the past and a search for new ways of expressing oneself. But its spirit is best reflected in a motto coined by Ezra Pound: ‘Make it new.’

The movement's main characteristics are individualism, experimentation, and absurdity. Its other characteristics include symbolism and formalism.

What about the history behind the modernism literary movement? Started by the Industrial Revolution and fueled by urbanization, the movement originated in Europe, with Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, and Robert Musil as early modernists. It was also heavily influenced by the horrors of World War I: it shattered the preconceived notions about society for many modernists.

The movement first developed in American literature in the early 20th century modernism. Apart from the Industrial Revolution, it was influenced by Prohibition and the Great Depression and fueled by a sense of disillusionment and loss. William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and E. E. Cummings are among the prominent American modernists.

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5 Key Characteristics of Modernist Literature

Now that we've covered the modernist genre definition let's examine why certain works are considered modernist more closely. In other words, what sets modernist works apart from their counterparts?

The key to unraveling the answer lies in the key characteristics of modernism. We'll define five of them that matter the most:

• individualism;
• experimentation;

Below you'll find a short description of each characteristic, along with examples.

Individualism

Individualism is one of the key elements of modernism. It postulates that an individual's experiences, opinions, and emotions are more fascinating than the events in a society as a whole.

So, modernism is focused on describing the subjective reality of one person rather than societal changes or historical events on an impersonal scale.

A typical protagonist in modernist literature is just trying to survive and adapt to the changing world. Presented with obstacles, the protagonist sometimes perseveres – but not always. You can find compelling examples of individualism in the works of Ernest Hemingway.

The fascination with subjective reality also led to the development of unreliable narrators in fiction. You can find great examples of the Madman type of unreliable narrator in Franz Kafka's works.

Experimentation

Literary modernism rejected many of the established writing norms, paving the way for experimentation with the form. Modernist poets best exemplify it: they revolted against the accepted rules of rhyme and rhythm, thus inventing free verse (vers libre) poetry.

Modernism in literature also led to experiments with prose. Combined with individualism as another core characteristic, writers developed a narrative device called ‘stream of consciousness.’

This device is meant to reflect how the characters think, even though it may be inconsistent, chaotic, or illogical. This new technique allowed writers to craft novels that read like the protagonist's stream of consciousness.

Among authors, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce are the best examples of this characteristic in action. As for poetry, T. S. Eliot's and Ezra Pound's bodies of work are a must-read.

During the modernist period, authors watched the world as they knew it crumbled around them. Two World Wars, the rise of capitalism, and fast-paced globalization all undermined authors' beliefs and opinions about humankind.

This led many of them to consider the world absurd and reflect it in their writing. From the setup to the plot development, modernist works based on this characteristic take surrealist or fantastical turns. They can also be described as bizarre or nonsensical.

The rise of absurdism also led to the invention of the Theatre of the Absurd. Pioneered by European playwrights, it revolves around the idea that human existence has no grand purpose or meaning. Absurdist plays don't seek to communicate effectively; instead, they include irrational speech.

There's no better example of absurdity in literary modernism than Franz Kafka's works, especially The Metamorphosis .

While symbolism in literature existed before the late 19th century, it quickly became one of the central characteristics of modernism in literature. Modernist authors and poets also reimagined symbolism. Where their predecessors left little unsaid, modernists preferred to leave plenty of blanks for the reader's imagination to fill.

That, however, doesn't mean there was no attention to details. On the contrary, modernist authors infused every layer of their work of fiction with symbolic details. The difference is that their way of using symbolism in writing allowed for several interpretations, all simultaneously possible and valid.

As a characteristic, symbolism in the modernism literary movement is most prominent in the works of James Joyce and T. S. Eliot.

As mentioned above, 20th-century modernism was defined by the search for radically new forms of expression. Creativity fueled this search, paving the way for the emergence of original forms.

In modern period literature, the writing process was no longer perceived as a laborious craft. Modernists treated it as a creative process instead. In some cases, the originality of the form was deemed more important than the substance.

Take the works of E. E. Cummings as an example here. Instead of conventionally putting the poetry on the page, he spread out separate words and phrases on the page as if it were a canvas and his poem – the paint.

Other examples of formalism include the use of invented or foreign words and phrases and unconventional structure – or its absence.

4 Recurring Themes in Modernist Literature

As an act of rebellion against conventional norms of the craft, literature of the modernist period touched on various themes that could best convey the author's opinion on the world around them.

Due to their variety, listing all of them here would be impossible. However, some of the modernist themes are more prominent than others. Below you can find four of them, along with examples.

These themes also represent a great starting point for essay writing. Whether you want to do it yourself or turn to a write my essay service, you can choose one of them as your topic for exploration.

Transformation

Modernism is practically inseparable from the theme of transformation. Be it the transformation of form, expression, or norm; the movement is based on the idea of radical change. If you want to see this theme in action, start with Ezra Pound's manifesto, Make It New .

As a theme, transformation also means a change in beliefs, opinions, and identities, a symbolic rebirth. Fueled by loss, destruction, and the war experiences of the authors caused fragmentation, this aspect of the theme.

You can find examples of transformation as a theme in Franz Kafka's absurdist The Metamorphosis . As for modernism in American literature, you can identify this theme in the works of Ernest Hemingway ( The Sun Also Rises ) and William Faulkner ( Barn Burning ).

Mythological Tales

Unlike their predecessors, modernist artists and authors didn't just refer to the Greek-Latin and other myths. Instead, they reimagined those tales in a new, modern world setting. Used as symbols or characters central to the plot, mythological tales and figures define modernism in literature.

As for examples of myths in the works of the modernist period, T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land is one of the best. In this poem, T. S. Eliot reimagines the myths of the Fisher King and uses Tarot cards and the Holy Grail as symbols. T. S. Eliot also used Greek and Latin phrases to enhance the poem's meaning.

Other examples of myths in modernist works include James Joyce's Ulysses, which alludes to Homer's Odysseus, and Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra, which reimagines the Greek myth of Electra.

Loss, Separation, and Destruction

The cruel experiences of war are the major reason this theme became prevalent in modern-period literature. These experiences were infused with loss, separation, and destruction, and many authors lived through them. So, these experiences were reflected in the works of the post-war times.

Loss, destruction, and separation were also universal experiences that many went through simultaneously and shared their consequences. That's why the modernist works were also well-accepted by the readers.

You can find more than one instance of this theme in the works of Virginia Woolf, a British author and a pioneer of modernism in English literature. In American literature, the best examples of these themes are present in the works of Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and T. S. Eliot.

Love and Sensuality

As one of the characteristics of modernism, individualism drove the theme of love and sensualism in the literature of this period. However, these themes didn't escape the disillusionment and demystification: they were reimagined somewhat cynically (or, some might say, realistically).

In modernist works, love isn't described as a magical feeling that can move mountains. Instead, the tone of love stories becomes grimmer and more fatalistic, and it serves as more proof of the social fabric corroding away.

In addition to love and sensuality, modernist works were marked by discussions of and reflections on sexuality, gender roles, and feminism. Some prominent authors in this regard are Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and D. H. Lawrence.

For love and sensuality modernism examples in literature, read and analyze F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls . D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover is also a great example here as it examines the theme from the perspective of emancipation and gender equality.

10 Notable Modernist Writers in the Literary Movement

Need to write a literature review about one instance of modern-period literature? Start your search for the subject by checking out the works of the following ten authors and poets!

These creators are among the most prominent modernists that defined the movement, developed its qualities, and experimented with its main characteristics. Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, and more age-defining creators are among the notable modernist writers and poets below.

Virginia Woolf

A pioneer in modernism in English literature, Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) and her body of work defined the movement. For one, she was one of the first authors to start using the stream-of-consciousness narrative device to display the complex inner world of her characters.

Woolf also infused her works with feminist themes. She was one of the three female authors of the period to explore ‘the given,’ according to Simone de Beauvoir. However, other themes of the time – the war, destruction, and the role of social class – are also central to her work.

Virginia Woolf's most prominent works are Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To The Lighthouse (1927). You may also enjoy reading The Waves (1931) and The Years (1936).

Further reading on Virginia Woolf's life and body of work includes J. Goldman's The Cambridge Introduction to Virginia Woolf (Cambridge University Press) and V. Curtis's Virginia Woolf's Women (University of Wisconsin Press).

James Joyce

An Irish poet and novelist, James Joyce (1882-1941) is best known for his Ulysses novel (1922). He belonged to the group of creators who explored new styles and forms of expression. His approach to writing was detail-oriented, infused with internal monologues, and overturning traditional plot and character devices.

James Joyce focused on modernist themes such as destruction, social class, enlightenment, and identity. However, his works mostly focused on slice-of-life tales told in new, creative ways.

Apart from Ulysses , James Joyce's major works include a collection of short stories, Dubliners (1914), the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), and Finnegans Wake (1939). The latter pushed the use of stream of consciousness to its extreme.

As for poetry, James Joyce is best known for his three collections of poems, with Chamber Music (1907) being the most acclaimed one.

Gertrude Stein

Often referred to as the mother of modernism, Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) is one of the most important American modernist writers. Like the two previous authors on this list, Stein experimented with stream of consciousness and other narrative devices. Her writing style, in turn, can be described as distinctive and playful.

Stein's first novel, Q.E.D. Q.E.D. (1903), was one of the first to explore a coming-out story. A lesbian herself, Stein focused on sexuality in some of her works (case in point: Fernhurst (1904)) – an unprecedented choice for the time.

As a poet, Stein is best known for Tender Buttons (1914), a collection of poems that capture the routine of mundane life. In the publication, Stein experiments with sounds and fragmented words to convey an image to the reader.

Stein's most prominent prose works of fiction include The Making of Americans (1902–1911) and Three Lives (1905–1906).

William Faulkner

Look no further if you're looking for modernism examples in literature that explore symbolism and multiple perspectives. William Faulkner (1897-1962), an American novel and short story writer, belongs to the group of celebrated modernist authors who focused on these themes.

A Nobel prize laureate and a Mississippi native, Faulkner is famous for his Southern Gothic stories taking place in the made-up Yoknapatawpha County. Besides symbolism and multiple-perspective storytelling, Faulkner also explored the unreliable narrator and nonlinear storytelling devices.

Faulkner's most prominent novels include The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), The Wild Palms (1939), and Light in August (1932). He was also working as a Hollywood screenwriter between 1932 and 1954. During that time, he crafted screenplays for films like Flesh (1932), To Have and Have Not (1944), and The Big Sleep (1946).

An expatriate American poet, Ezra Pound (1885-1972) is one of the most prominent figures of 20th-century modernism. He was unrivaled in using free-verse poetry and allusions in his body of work.

Pound also excelled in using imagism in his works – and he was one of the first poets to do so. This makes his poems vivid and powerful for the reader's imagination.

You've already seen several references to Ezra Pound's Make It New (1934), a manifesto for the modernist movement. However, that's not the cornerstone of Pound's literary legacy. To delve into it, read The Cantos (c. 1917–1962), an epic 800-page poem, In a Station of the Metro (1913), or The Return (1917).

Franz Kafka

An Austrian-Hungarian author, Franz Kafka (1883-1924) is one of the most prominent modernist writers in the German-speaking world. Kafka explored the themes of transformation, existentialism, and alienation in his works.

Kafka focused his craft on absurdist, surrealistic, and fantastical plots, as best exemplified by The Metamorphosis (1915). In this short story, a salesman has turned into a large insect (commonly interpreted as a cockroach).

Kafka's body of work led to the birth of a new term – Kafkaesque. This term is the easiest way to describe the author's style: it's marked by absurdist, disorienting complexity and a surreal distortion of reality.

The Metamorphosis isn't the only work of Kafka worth reading. His best novels include The Castle (1926) and The Trial (1925).

E. Cummings

E. E. Cummings (1894-1962) was one of the most productive American poets and authors of modern-period literature. Over his lifetime, he crafted around 2,900 poems, four plays, and two autobiographical novels over his lifetime.

Cummings' poetry style is best defined as idiosyncratic. The poet disregarded not just the established norms of rhyme and rhythm. He went further and refused to abide by the syntax, punctuation, and spelling rules. His poems often employ lowercase spelling as a form of expression.

If you want to get acquainted with the best works of E. E. Cummings, we suggest you start with may I feel said he (1935) and [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in] (1952). His books of poetry – 1 × 1 (1944) and No Thanks (1935) – are also a worthy read and a great introduction to the poet's unique style.

H. Lawrence

Another prominent English novelist and poet, D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930), didn't earn himself a worthy place in the modernism literary movement during his lifetime. Only after his death did his works earn him the recognition he deserved.

His works dealt with themes of sexuality, industrialization, modernity, and spontaneity. Exploring sexuality – especially from the standpoint of female characters – earned D. H. Lawrence many enemies. As a result of public persecution and censorship trials, D. H. Lawrence spent years in voluntary exile.

D. H. Lawrence's most prominent novels are Sons and Lovers (1913), Women in Love (1920), The Rainbow (1915), and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928). However, the latter was deemed too scandalous to be published in Great Britain until 1960, after D. H. Lawrence's death.

Ernest Hemingway

An American novelist and short-story writer, Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) isn't just considered one of the most influential creators of the modernist period but American literature as a whole. He is famous for his unique style of prose. It's economical, straightforward, and matter-of-fact, with few descriptive adjectives in the text.

Having spent years as a journalist on the battlefield, Hemingway experienced the horrors of war first-hand. This influenced the themes he explored in his writing: his novels reflected war, love, destruction, loss, and disillusionment.

Hemingway's bibliography consists of seven novels and six collections of short stories. His most prominent works include For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), based on his experiences of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, and The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) is one of the iconic feminist modernist writers who specialized in crafting short stories. A New Zealand native, Mansfield reflected on anxiety, identity, existentialism, and sexuality in her works.

Mansfield's style draws inspiration from visual arts and psychoanalysis. This made for vivid descriptions in her prose and complex characters. Her short stories often have a twist in the form of a revelation or an epiphany about the protagonist.

If you want to get acquainted with Mansfield's literary style, we recommend you start with short stories like The Garden Party (1922) and Daughters of the Late Colonel (1920). Other great but lesser-known examples of her short stories include Something Childish But Very Natural (1914), Bliss (1918), and Sun and Moon (1920).

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Why is it that a book like Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis  (1915) feels like it is more modern and recent to our time period now than Emily Bronte's   Wuthering Heights   (1847)? Even though Kafka and Bronte historically lived closer together than we and Kafka? This is because the Modernist  movement separates the two. 

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Jump to a key chapter

And when you read the word 'Modernism,' what is the first thing you think of? Is it perhaps to do with the beginning part 'Modern'?

This text will give a brief introduction to M odernism . So let's start at the beginning: what is Modernism?

Modernism Definition

Modernism is a literary and artistic movement that began in the late 19th century and departed from previous traditional and classical forms of art and literature. It is a global movement where creatives radically produced new imagery , mediums, and means to best portray modern life. The movement not only was embraced by literature but art, music, architecture and other fields of thinking.

Modernism rejected all the movements that became before it, arguing that these forms of representation no longer adequately reflected the new forms of society.

The key points of Modernism are:

Many creatives broke from traditional forms of writing as they did not best reflect the struggles and issues of society.

Modernism grew out of a critical turning point in nearly every area of civilisation; it is marked by profound shifts in human perception.

This was a time of increasing internalisation of narration in literature, with aspects such as stream of consciousness , rejection of narrative continuity, and non-linear chronology.

Modernism Time Period

Modernism was born out of a time of great societal upheaval caused by industrialisation, modernisation and the first World War.

WW1 (1914–1918) shattered the concept of progress to many, resulting in fragmentation in both content and structure. The ideals of the Enlightenment claimed that new technology would bring progress to humans: technological advances would improve society and quality of life. Yet this was destroyed by WW1, as technological advances simply increased the mass destruction of life. The war resulted in the disillusionment of society and a deep pessimism of human nature; themes picked up by Modernism such as in the poem ' The Waste Land ' (1922) by T. S. Eliot.

The Enlightenment is an intellectual movement in the 17th and 18th centuries that focused on scientific progress, rationalism and the pursuit of knowledge.

Industrialisation & Urbanisation

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the western world was using various inventions of the Industrial Revolution, such as the automobile, aeroplane and radio. These technological innovations challenged traditional notions of what was possible in society. Modernists could see the whole of society being transformed by machines.

Yet the Industrial Revolution and resulting urbanisation and industrialisation also led to significant social and economic inequalities. Many modernist authors such as Franz Kafka and T. S. Eliot explored the effects of these events on the population and the disillusionment and sense of loss people experienced.

The mass urban movement meant that the city became the key context and reference point for both human nature and humans. As a result, the city often starred as the main character in modernist texts.

Industrialisation is the development of economies from agricultural to industrial.

Urbanisation is the mass movement of people from the countryside to cities.

Characteristics of Modernism in Literature

The tremendous social upheavals brought everything into doubt that was once fixed. The world was no longer reliable and set. Instead, it became slippery and dependent on one's perspective and subjectivity. Requiring new models to express this uncertainty, Modernism is characterised by experimentation in form, multi-perspectives, interiority and non-linear timelines.

Experimentation

Modernist writers experimented with their writing styles and broke with previous storytelling conventions. They went against narrative conventions and formulaic verse by writing fragmented stories to represent the state of society after great upheavals.

Ezra Pound's 'Make it new!' statement in 1934 about the Modernist movement emphasises the role of experimentation. This slogan was an attempt to encourage writers and poets to be innovative in their writing and experiment with new writing styles. 1

Modernist poets also rejected traditional conventions and rhyme schemes and started to write in free verse .

Free verse is a poetic form that does not have a consistent rhyme scheme , musical form or metrical pattern.

Subjectivity & Multi-Perspectives

Modernist texts are characterised by a growing mistrust of language to be able to reflect reality . Modernist writers rejected the neutrality and objectivity of third-person omniscient narrators often used in Victorian literature.

An o mniscient narrator is a narrator that has an all-knowing insight into the narrative that is being told (namely, is privy to all the thoughts and emotions of the characters).

A third-person narrator is a narrator that is outside the story (namely, is not present as a character).

Instead, Modernist writers embraced subjective language dependent on perspective .

From a neutral, object perspective, a red apple is simply a red apple. Yet, in subjective texts, this red apple is perceived through the narrator, who will see and describe this apple from their own subjective perspective. Maybe for one narrator, the red apple is actually deep oxblood red, whereas the red apple appears to be light pink for another narrator. So the apple will change depending on who is perceiving it.

Yet if reality changes depending on who perceives it, how can we really trust what we see? And what even is the reality in this new slippery world?

Modernist texts tried to deal with these questions by using new narrative perspectives, which became increasingly fragmented and turned inward into the characters.

Many Modernist writers wrote in the first-person but with different characters to present each character's individual thoughts and add complexity to the story. This m ulti-perspectival narration used several different viewpoints to present and evaluate a novel .

A first-person narrator is a narrator that is inside the text (a character in the story). The story is filtered through their perspective. An example is Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby (1925).

Multi-perspectival narration includes various perspectives in one text. Namely, a text is created through multiple narrators, who each bring in their own perspective. James Joyce 's Ulysses (1920) is an example.

Modernist texts had an increased awareness of the unreliability of perspective, so they did not include fixed viewpoints but used techniques like paradox and ambiguity to add depth to the story.

Interiority and Individualism

Believing that traditional forms of storytelling were no longer fit to describe the world they were in, many experimental forms of writing increasingly turned inward into the characters. The following literary techniques allowed the writers to enter the interiority of the characters and emphasis the individual:

Stream of consciousness : a narrative device that attempts to express the character's thoughts as they come. A type of interior monologue, the text is more associative that often has sudden leaps in thought, long sentences and limited punctuation.

Interior monologue: is a narrative technique where the narrator enters the characters' minds to present their thoughts and feelings.

Free indirect speech: a narrative technique where a third-person narration uses some elements of first-person narration by presenting characters' inner workings.

By turning inward into the individual characters, modernist texts attempted to explore the diverse and ambiguous sense of self. Yet by doing this, the external reality and the perceiving mind become blurred.

Critics of Modernism thought that Modernist texts focused too much on characters' interior world without inviting social change.

Do you agree with this criticism?

Non-Linear Timelines

In 1905 and 1915, Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity , which proposed that time and space were relative to one's perspective. This means that time is not neutral or objective but changes depending on who perceives it.

So the next time you come late to a class, why not whip out Einstein's theory that time is only relative?

This theory exploded the linear perspective that ordered the world: that time can be easily categorised into past, present and future.

Drawing on this, modernist writers often rejected linear timelines. Modernist texts often dissolve the different time periods of past, present and future. Time becomes discontinuous, creating a text in "flux". Just as human thought processes are non-linear, so too became the plots and timelines.

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) has a non-linear structure that frequently uses flashbacks.

Modernism Movement: Themes

Individualism & alienation.

Modernist writers focused on individuals instead of society. They followed the lives of these characters, coming to terms with a changing world and overcoming their trials and tribulations. Often these individuals felt alienated from their world. Caught up in the rapid pace of modernity, the characters are unable to find their bearings in the constantly changing environment through no fault of their own.

Modernism was inspired by the philosophy of nihilism in the sense that it rejected moral and religious principles that were perceived as the only way to achieve social progress. Modernists often believed that for people to be their authentic selves, individuals needed to be free from the overwhelming and restrictive control of conventions.

Nihilism is the philosophy that holds that all beliefs and values are intrinsically senseless. As such, life has no intrinsic meaning.

War made a significant impact on the public and also on writers. As poets and writers died or were greatly wounded during World War I, globalisation and capitalism re-created society. This contradiction in people's lives created a sense of absurdity. Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis (1915) presents the absurdity of modern life when the protagonist , a travelling salesman, wakes up one day as a giant cockroach.

Absurdism is a branch of Modernism that finds the modern world meaningless, and thus all attempts to find meaning are inherently absurd. Unlike Nihilism, Absurdism found positivity in this meaninglessness, arguing that if all is meaningless anyway, you might as well have fun.

Modernism's Writers

James joyce.

James Joyce is regarded as one of the great masters of modernist writing, with his incredibly complex texts often requiring intense studying to grasp them fully. Joyce pioneered the radical use of narration, turning such texts as Ulysses (1922) into the modernist canon. The experimental novel Ulysses (1922) mirrors Homer's Odyssey (725–675 BCE), yet in the former, all the events take place in one day. Joyce uses symbolism , stream of consciousness and various types of narration to explore the complexity of the inner consciousness.

James Joyce's work: Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)

Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka's work is so unique that it has even received its own adjective, 'kafkaesque'. Yet it clearly draws on many hallmarks of Modernism. Kafka's experimental use of narrative perspective blurs the subject and object. Moreover, his non-linear use of time is framed through the characters' subjectivity. For example, the passing of time in the novella The Metamorphosis (1915) is inextricably linked to the protagonist Gregor Samsa. The length that Gregor passes out at the end of each part is directly linked to the length of time passing in the novella.

Franz Kafka's works: The Metamorphosis (1915), The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926)

Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf is often hailed as one of the great modernist writers. Her texts pioneered the literary device of stream of consciousness. Through interior monologue, she created developed and inward-looking characters that exhibited complex emotions.

Virginia Woolf's work: Mrs Dalloway (1925), To The Lighthouse (1927)

As well as being well known in Modernism in which he used allusion and free verse extensively, Ezra Pound was also one of the first to use imagism in Modernist poetry.

Ezra Pound's works: 'In a Station of the Metro' (1913), 'The Return' (1917).

Modernism vs Postmodernism

While some critics argue that we still are in the movement of modernism, others suggest that a new literary movement of postmodernism has evolved since the 1950s. Postmodernism is characterised by fragmentation and intertextuality in a hyperconnected world.

Modernist literature rejected previous forms of poetry and prose as it felt that they were no longer sufficient to represent modern life. In contrast, postmodernism consciously used previous forms and styles to comment on intertextuality .

Intertextuality is the relationship between texts. This can be achieved by writers directly referencing texts within their own work, creating a dialogue between writers and works.

Modernism - Key takeaways

Modernism is a global literary and artistic movement born out of major societal upheaval.

Modernism desires to break from all previous movements, holding that they are inadequate to reflect the turmoil of modern life.

Modernist texts experiment with form to emphasise subjectivity, multi-perspective narration, interiority and non-linear timelines.

Key themes of Modernism are individualism and alienation and the philosophies of nihilism and absurdism .

Famous modernist writers include James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Virginia Woolf and Ezra Pound.

1 Lumen Learning, 'The Rise of Modernism,' 2016

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Frequently Asked Questions about Modernism

What is the main idea of Modernism?

The main idea of Modernism is to break from previous literary movements and create new experimental forms that emphasise subjectivity, individualism and the inner world of the characters. 

What is an example of Modernism?

The experimental novel Ulysses  (1922) by James Joyce is an example of a Modernist text as Joyce uses symbolism, stream of consciousness and various types of narration to explore the complexity of the inner consciousness.

What are characteristics of Modernism?

Characteristics of Modernism are experimentation, subjectivity, multi-perspectives, interiority, and non-linear timelines. 

What are the three elements of Modernism?

Three elements of Modernism are breaking from traditional forms of writing, profound shifts in human perception and increasing internationalisation of narration. 

What are the 5 aspects of modernism?

5 aspects of Modernism are experimentation, subjectivity, multi-perspectives, interiority, and non-linear timelines. 

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