7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

1/15

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

2/15

Modernism: A New Perspective

This presentation is not intended tobe a comprehensive study ofModernism nor a detailed analysis ofits characteristics.

The coming 30-40 minutes will be anattempt to shed light on one of most

important factors that made itinevitable for modernism to emerge.

Scope of the Seminar

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

3/15

What is Modernism?

It is a 20th century self-consciousnessmovement that revolted against the so-called outmoded traditions, values,

forms of art, architecture, literature,religious faith, social organization anddaily life.

Modernism is a blanket term for anexplosion of new styles and trends inthe arts of the beginning of the 20thcentury.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

4/15

The best quotation that sums Modernism upall is these lines from the Irish poet W.B.Yeats poem The Second Coming (1919):

Things fall apart; the

centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

To know what centre Yeats is referring to, itis necessary to go back into history.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

5/15

Roots of Modernism

To understand Modernism one needsto know its relation to Modernity. Thislatter is considered to describe a wayof living and of experiencing lifewhich has arisen with the changeswrought by industrialisation,

urbanisation, and secularisation; itscharacteristics are disintegration,ephemerality and insecurity.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

6/15

Modernity and the Age of Enlightenment

What fell apart in the modern era were thevalues of the 18th century, known also asthe Age of Reason. The main value of the

age, besides reason, was the idea ofprogress.

In the 18th century thinkers becameoptimistic that by using the universal

values of science, logic and reason theycould get rid of all the myths and holy ideasthat kept humanity from progressing.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

7/15

At the centre of this world view lies thephilosophy of the French Rene Descartes(1596-1650). He declares that the only

thing one cannot doubt is ones ownexistence:

I Think, Therefore I am

Whereas his principle was intended to freehuman mind from the fetters of irrationalimagination, it opened the way to doubt allthe deep rooted beliefs that so far providedthe solid foundation for western civilization.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

8/15

Science, Nothing but Science!

Through reason and science, all poverty,ignorance and injustice would finally bebanished.

Reality was supposed to be understood andperceived through the rational mind of theEnlightenment.

With this in mind, 18th century people spent

the long night of their century disturbedonly by the nightmares of the openpossibilities of their new rational religion.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

9/15

The Dawn of the 20th Century

The growing suspicion about the validityand durability of these beliefs was assuredby the increase in poverty, humanbondage, deteriorating life conditions, and

the writings of thinkers like FriedrichNietzsche and Karl Marx among others. The one most important blow to these

ideals, a blow that marked the end to allwhat was considered Enlightenment, was

WWI. These ideals were shattered by thesame tools that were thought they wouldbring prosperity and freedom to humankind.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

10/15

In Search for a New Centre

Where western society had previouslya centre: whether in ChristianReligion or in the ideals of scienceand progress, suddenly it hadNOTHING!

There was an urging need to fill in

this void, this emptiness. Nothingnessitself was used as a filling to this void.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

11/15

Modernism as a Filling!

Mans need for a centre to cling towas a compulsive drive behind theemergence of Modernism. If science

proved to be futile then somethingelse must take its place. EarnestHemingway in his short story AClean, Well-Lighted Placeuses the

word nada (nothing in Spanish) tosubstitute significant places of LordsPrayer

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

12/15

Our nada who art in nada, nada bethy name, thy kingdom nada, thy willbe nada in nada as it is in nada.

Our Father, who art in Heaven,halewed be thy name, Let thy

kingdom come. Thy will be fulfilled.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

13/15

Modernist Artists as Supermen

Nietzsches idea of the superman whois beyond good and evil provided theimpetus for artists to pursue theirown distinct way of filling this void.

Writers like T.S. Eliot, James Joyce,George Bernard Shaw, each

developed their own distinct way ofperceiving their reality

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

14/15

Modern Schools of Painting

Dadaism was among the earliest schoolsof painting that called for thedestruction of all the traditional methods

and styles of painting. It was totalnegation. To bring back an affirmation,Surrealism sprang from Dadaism to be anew way of representing reality.

Cubism is another school thatrepresented the world in a threedimensional way.

Modernism: A New Perspective

7/29/2019 Modernism a New Perspective

15/15