THE 20th CENTURY LITERATURE,

 

The 20th century in literature, spanning roughly from 1900 to 1990, is broadly categorized into Modernist and Post-modern literature, with World War II serving as a dividing point between the two. This era saw a significant increase in the production of popular and trivial literature due to technological advancements that made book production cheaper. The distinction between "popular literature" and "high literature" became blurred, with genres like detective stories and science fiction moving between the two. While often overlooked by mainstream literary criticism for much of the century, these genres developed their own recognition and awards, such as the Nebula Award and the British Fantasy Award.

Early 20th-century writers initially glorified civilization's development and technological progress, anticipating a "golden age." However, modernist writers, influenced by the two World Wars, economic crises, and social unrest, adopted a contrasting perspective, viewing modern society as lost and stagnant. Themes of moral and ethical degradation, economic crisis, social problems, and disillusionment became central. Modernist writers often used personal analysis, descriptions of inner worlds, and fragmentation of thoughts to explore urgent social issues and their universal meaning. Individualism and social alienation were prominent concerns, highlighting a crisis across various aspects of life, including family values and traditional virtues, which seemed irrelevant in a society perceived as full of vices. Some sought personal asceticism as a solution, though the text suggests a simpler answer lay in fostering human connection.

In poetry, the early 20th century saw American writers like Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, H.D., and Ezra Pound at the forefront of avant-garde movements, often spending significant parts of their careers in Europe. Pound's involvement with the Imagists marked a revolution in poetic style. Eliot, particularly with "The Waste Land," became a major influence on English poets. The 1930s brought a new generation of poets, including W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Cecil Day-Lewis, and Louis MacNeice, who were politically active on the Left. Their work, though admiring Eliot, moved away from strict modernist technical innovations and often explored themes of community, social injustice, and war. English surrealist poetry also emerged, with exponents like David Gascoyne, drawing inspiration from French models. Poets like John Betjeman and Stevie Smith, known for their unique styles, stood outside these established groups.

The 1940s, marked by World War II, saw the emergence of war poets such as Keith Douglas and Alun Lewis, whose work reflected the specific circumstances of living and fighting during wartime. The main movement in post-war 1940s poetry was the New Romantic group, including Dylan Thomas, who revolted against the classicism of earlier poets and drew inspiration from figures like Gerard Manley Hopkins and James Joyce. This period also saw a trend towards regionalism in poetry, with writers focusing on their native areas.

The 1950s were dominated by three groups: The Movement, The Group, and poets associated with Extremist Art. The Movement poets, including Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis, were characterized by their hostility to modernism and internationalism, looking to Thomas Hardy as a model. The Group was a more formal collective, meeting for discussions. Extremist Art, a term coined by A. Alvarez, described the work of poets like Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, often compared to the Expressionist German school.

The 1960s saw the center of mainstream poetry shift to Ireland with the emergence of poets like Seamus Heaney. In England, poetic groupings clustered around the modernist tradition, influenced by both American and indigenous models. The British Poetry Revival was a broad movement encompassing various forms like performance, sound, and concrete poetry, drawing on legacies from Pound to the Beat poets. The Mersey Beat poets, including Adrian Henri, Brian Patten, and Roger McGough, aimed to create an English equivalent to the Beats, often writing protest poems against the established social order and the threat of nuclear war.

The latter part of the 20th century witnessed short-lived poetic groupings and a general trend towards "Poeclectics," characterized by a diversity of styles, subjects, voices, registers, and forms within individual poets' works. There was also a growing interest in women's writing and poetry from ethnic groups, particularly the West Indian community. Performance poetry gained popularity, fueled by the Poetry Slam movement. Notable poets from this period include Carol Ann Duffy, Andrew Motion, and Benjamin Zephaniah. The "New Generation" movement in the 1990s and early 2000s produced poets like Simon Armitage and Don Paterson. The period also saw an upsurge in independent and experimental poetry pamphlet publishers.

In English drama, the 20th century began with the influence of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, whose serious dramas on moral and social issues influenced the "minority theatre" in England. Modern British theatre effectively started in Dublin, Ireland, with the foundation of the Irish Literary Theatre by William B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, and J.M. Synge, aiming to create a distinct Celtic and Irish venue for works reflecting "the deeper emotions of Ireland." Yeats, Synge, and Sean O'Casey were definitive playwrights of the early 20th century.

Common themes in early 20th-century drama included political issues, reflecting worker unrest or rebellion against the state, and explorations of societal business practices, new political ideologies like socialism, and the rise of repressed groups like women. The "agitprop" drama of the 1930s, for instance, had roots in the suffragette movement. Continuous experimentation was a hallmark of 20th-century theatre, leading to changes in playwriting and performance. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung's studies in psychoanalysis influenced playwrights to incorporate myths and dreams, expanding the boundaries of realism and leading to "poetic realism," which dealt with universal truths often through portrayals of peasant life.

Women became highly prominent in modern drama, both as characters and playwrights. Female characters challenged social order and, over time, gained empowerment through theatre. Political theatre used live performances to expose how social and political orders use their power to "represent others coercively," often highlighting the prejudices faced by stereotyped groups. Propaganda played a significant role in political theatre, disseminating ideas and swaying public opinion.

Realism in theatre aimed for a direct observation of human behavior, serving as a mirror to society. Playwrights began using contemporary settings, backgrounds, and characters, moving away from mythological or upper-class figures to involve all genders, classes, and races. Henrik Ibsen was a key contributor to this style. Social Realism emerged in the 1930s, driven by the Great Depression, depicting rural poverty and aiming to expose the consequences of unrestrained capitalism.

Bertolt Brecht created Epic Theatre, which rejected realistic theatre for being "too picture perfect." Inspired by Greek epic poetry, Epic Theatre employed dramatic illusions like harsh lighting, blank stages, and placards to reinforce the realities people faced rather than challenge them. Absurdist Drama, or existentialist theatre, focused on direct perceptions of being, often expressing intuitions through lyrical poetry. Theatre of Cruelty, motivated by Antonin Artaud, aimed to bring current ideas and experiences to the audience through participation and "ritualistic theatre experiments," emphasizing equal presentation and representation, though it was often highly metaphorical and challenging to understand.