Modernism vs. Postmodernism

Clear and detailed comparison table of Modernism vs. Postmodernism based on your points:

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📚 Difference Between Modernism and Postmodernism in Literature

Aspect	Modernism	Postmodernism
1. Background	Emerged in the late 19th to early 20th century, especially before and after World War I.	Emerged after World War II, especially in the mid to late 20th century.
2. Origin / Reaction To	A reaction against Victorianism, Romanticism, and the devastation of WWI. Writers wanted to find new meaning in a disordered world.	A reaction against Modernism itself, and against the belief in progress, truth, and grand narratives.
3. Characteristics	- Experimental form- Stream of consciousness- Fragmentation- Inner consciousness- Serious tone- Focus on the artist's authority	- Irony, playfulness, parody- Fragmented narrative but self-aware- Metafiction (story about story)- Unreliable narrators- Breaking the fourth wall- Embraces chaos and contradiction
4. Common Themes	- Alienation and disillusionment- Breakdown of social norms- Search for meaning- Identity and inner self- Loss and despair	- Pastiche (mixing styles)- Absurdity and randomness- Questioning reality- No ultimate truth- Hyperreality and simulation
5. Major Writers & Famous Works	- James Joyce – Ulysses (1922)- T.S. Eliot – The Waste Land (1922)- Virginia Woolf – To the Lighthouse (1927)- F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (1925)- Franz Kafka – The Trial (1925)	- Thomas Pynchon – Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)- Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)- Don DeLillo – White Noise (1985)- Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)- Italo Calvino – If on a winter’s night a traveler (1979)

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💡 Key Idea:

• Modernism = “Let’s break old forms to find deeper truths.”

• Postmodernism = “Truth is subjective, let’s question everything — including form itself.”