Change In Trend Of Literature From Late 19th Century To Late 20th Century

 

Credit: Elena Poiata
Picture Source: https://phys.org/news/2017-04-approach-humanists-scientists-evolution-literature.html

According to Merriam Webster (n.d) literature is the, “writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest”. Literature has been evolved in different periods and movements. This change in trend of literature has been observed from medieval and early modern period to the post-modern literature. As far as the literature of late 19th century is concerned, it starts after High-Victorian period. In the late 19th century, the perceived culture and ‘dominant values’ of Victoria era underwent development, and this was the head start of modernism. This era is also discussed as ‘Aestheticism’. (Rainsford, 2014)

American civil war ended with many social changes and ‘post-war literature’ was distinct from that of Renaissance literature. The contents and writing style of English literature was also altered from ‘extravagant and fantastical’ to factual and routine life. This late nineteenth-century is also known as Realistic Period. For instance, a famous American novelist and short-story writer, Kate Chopin, portrayed ‘female oppression and sexuality’ in her writings. (Rainsford, 2014). The characters in Kate Chopin’s short stories were of mixed-race Americans and Creoles. Some of elements that are found in Chopin’s novels and short stories include ‘Woman’s self-realization’, ‘woman revolt against conformity’, ‘Attitude towards race’ and ‘Poverty’, ‘Lesbian elements’. (Koloski, (n.d)) .

From 1900 to 1914, naturalist period started which has a clear distinction from realism. This was the start of 20th century literature. Rainsford, D (2014) says that naturalism is the phenomenon in which human beings are considered only the part of living world. In Particular, it refers to a trend which signifies a globe from which divinity has vanished and substituted by ‘secular building of thinkers’ who opposed to religion. The early twentieth’ short-story writers were loyal to particular time and places. They brought our attention to ‘human psychology’ and by the elements of symbolism and mannerism. (Rainsford, 2014)

From 1910, modernist period started in America. The world war I (1914-1918) resulted in the massacre and fall of cultural and political tradition which later on altered the ‘form and content’ of literature. People started realizing how hard the war was and how small the world was. Eventually the development of war technology, automobiles and telephone took place in late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Moreover, after the death of many writers in the war, English Literature encountered a major movement. This movement was led by the group of intellectuals known as ‘Bloomsbury group’ including Virginia Woolf. They focused on new standards for sex and gender and promoted feminism. Similarly, another movement, ‘The Harlem Renaissance’ was lead in America whose main focus were the black people who were considered as slaves and inferior to white people. These movements brought a great change in the history of literature and the critics focused on the most neglected ideas. (Rainsford, 2014)

In High modernism (from world war I to world war II) ‘Provocation’ had been the major trait of literature. There was a great race of experimentation in this era. In this period, new ideas were immerged from ‘psychoanalysis and ethnography’, ‘narrative’ and ‘imagist’ mode.  In addition, Modernism is an urban phenomenon that is connected to exile. The ‘lost generation’ of writers in America who favored Europe and rejected US.  For example, James Joyce, wrote about his exile from Dublin. Similarly, Ulysses by James Joyce is based on the realist elements, also follows ‘stream of consciousness’. (Rainsford, 2014)

After the world war I, there was a need of relocating the broken pieces of the world. So, the text that was written at that time included the social as well as political issues. For instance, John Steinbeck portrayed the condition of poor people after the Great Depression. However, the second world war did not expose the great writers except for the Churchill whose speeches had great impact on the people and George Orwell whose writings covered all social and political aspects. (Rainsford, 2014)

Colonial English literature existed in the Asia and Africa i.e., Nigeria, Kenya, and India. The famous Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore also contributed to English literature which was later on taught in schools during colonial era. In post-colonial period, there was relocation of political power and ambiguity in nature of ‘cultural and linguistic power’. The writers found themselves in a dilemma to use their native language or the language used by their colonial rulers. (Rainsford, 2014) After the partition of India and Pakistan, many writers wrote about the conditions of people after partition. Moreover, the themes of partition literature revolve around the exploitation of woman, rape, fear, abduction, violence, brutality, and murder. (Aijaz Ahmad Ganie, 2017)

Afterwards, a famous writer Chinua Achebe made his mark in the Britain of having an ‘International impact’. His writings made many post-colonial writers to put light on the cultural and ethnic diversity. (Rainsford, 2014). Achebe wrote many short stories which were based on the themes of independence, liberty, disobedience, fear, and madness. (McManus, n.d.). The comparatively contradictory era of post-modernism also focused on the structural design of buildings and intermixing of culture and tradition. Moreover, the modernist literature put emphasis on the individualism, experimentation, and absurdity. An example of theater of Absurd is “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett. (Rainsford, 2014)

If we consider the writings of Virginia Woolf, she was mindful of the reality of society, nature, and inner consciousness. She tried to connect her inner and outer worlds. In her writings she starts from a connecting point and then express her ideas in different ways. Virginia Woolf, at her time was the main subject of feminist criticism (Chaudhary, 2018). She mostly wrote about equality, women’ destruction, equal rights, feminism, woman’s inferiority, women’s independence. Her novels To The Light House, Orlando shows all the modernist elements that were needed to be addressed for women. (UKEssays, 2018). The techniques that are used in Virginia Woolf’ writings include symbolism, stream of consciousness, narrative technique, and poetic style. One of the most famous techniques, she used in her writing is the ‘Stream of Consciousness’. For example, her novel Mrs. Dalloway is based on this literary device in which Woolf talked about privacy, communication, and loneliness. (Chaudhary, 2018).

If we specifically discuss Virginia Woolf short story The Mark on the Wall, it does not have any live characters, fascinating plot, and detailed setting. This story put emphasis on first person point of view and follows the stream of consciousness. In this story, Woolf consider a mark and see it under reality, society, art, history, and life. The first persona ‘I’ does not tell us about the identity of the character. The story depicts the flashes of thoughts that came into her mind while looking at the mark. (Hai-ying, 2018) The main themes of this story include gender role, change uncertainty, faith, and trust. While looking at the wall, many issues strike her mind and she thinks of the inequality between man and woman. She ponders why there is a man dominated society out there and she still cannot have faith on the religion because church is also man controlled. (McManus, n.d.). However, she was certain about the uselessness of the newspaper when she says "Though it's no good buying newspapers… Nothing ever happens” (Woolf, 1917). She believes that nothing can help woman in changing their position or status. Moreover, the woman only has the duty to serve as a wife. In addition, she also talks about the gender roles that are specified for males and females by the society. The narrator is also certain about the war, that war is man-made, and woman are submissive to man and they cannot help in war as well. The mark can be a symbol of the imperfection of society. The narrator of the story seems to be aware of the norms of society at the time when this story was written. At that time women had no right to cast vote or play any role in politics. The narrator also focuses on the nature and shows her desire for freedom. She also talks about the growth and survival of a person “tree; and trees grow, and we don't know how they grow……. I like to think of the tree itself” (Woolf, 1917). The narrator symbolizes tree to herself because believes that the wood of trees remain after they are cut off.  She showed her desire to be alive in the society even after her own death. In the whole story, the narrator is actually trying to figure out where she stands in a male dominated society. However, the ‘snail’ in the story is a symbol of sensitivity and patience. The writer might point to the patience of woman in the cruel patriarchal society. (McManus, n.d.)

In late 19th century, nationalist enthusiasm throughout the subcontinent aroused the concern in indigenous language. Thus, Rabindranath Tagore contributed in English literature to make us aware of Bengali culture and creed. He had done many experiments with the form and content of literature and he used colloquial style in his writings. He perfectly describe the setting, characters, and plot in his writings. (Kellman, n.d.). He has discussed the real life of woman who are imprisoned and exploited in the male-controlled society. In his short story Postmaster, he has represented the village life, social conducts, and unfortunate ends. The theme in this story is the exploitation of lower-class people by powerful. (Kellman, n.d.) This story also depicts the loneliness, compassion, and wisdom. There are two main characters in the story, one is innocent and responsible and voiceless girl while other is cold man(postmaster) who is more connected to materialistic world.  The story, Postmaster, represents the condition of the woman in 19th century in Bengal when woman were not given rights of education and they were considered inferior. Tagore knew the importance of education for girls as well that is why he put emphasis on it in his story. (Das, 2018) "I was thinking," said the postmaster, "of teaching you to read." And then for the rest of the afternoon he taught her the alphabet” (Tagore, 1891) has shown that postmaster spend his free time to teach the girl, but this was also his excuse to end loneliness. Moreover, this story discuss the philosophy of life that no body stays forever, and one has to live without other “The postmaster heaved a sigh…... he slowly made for the boat.” (Tagore, 1891). Moreover, it has represented an oppressed girl whose emotions were neglected for all the time and she was supposed to live her life in poverty. However, the postmaster’s behavior depicts the society behavior towards the woman. The poor girl, Ratan, still expected and hoped that one day the postmaster will return which is a great example of the phrase, “Expectations always hurt”. (Das, 2018)

The above discussion concluded that the literature has been evolved and shaped from 19th to 20th century due to socio-political aspects. New writing techniques were developed and adopted by the writer. The political wars and society behavior brought writer’s attention to the daily lives’ issues. These socio-political factors made 19th and 20th century writers to focus on equality, feminism, social class difference, poverty, slavery, female oppression, patriarchal society, self-realization, fear, rape, and abduction. Virginia Woolf and Rabindranath Tagore spotlight the reality of life through their short stories The mark on the wall and The postmaster respectively.

 

 

 

References

UKEssays. (November 2018). Virginia Woolf's Literary Themes Of Feminism. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/virginia-woolfs-literary-themes-of-feminism-english-literature-essay.php?vref=1

Aijaz Ahmad Ganie, M. R. (2017). THE PLIGHT OF COMMON PEOPLE IN THE PARTITION LITERATURE OF INDIAN SUBCONTINENT. Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies,, 4, 7049-7059. doi:https://doi.org/10.21922/srjis.v4i36.10080

Chaudhary, S. (2018). Style and Technique of Virginia Woolf: A Critical Study. 311-318.

Das, B. (2018). Rabindranath Tagore’s The Postmaster: A story of a silent sufferer. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT), 6(1).

Hai-ying, W. (2018). A Picture of “Subjective Reality”: A Narrative Analysis of Virginia Woolf’s “The Mark on the Wall”. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 8(3), 344-388. doi: 10.17265/2159-5836/2018.03.006

Kellman, S. G. (n.d.). Retrieved from e-notes: https://www.enotes.com/topics/rabindranath-tagore/critical-essays/analysis-2

Koloski, B. ((n.d)). Retrieved from KateChopin.org: https://www.katechopin.org/themes/

McManus, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from The sitting bee: http://sittingbee.com/short-stories-chinua-achebe/

Rainsford, D. (2014). STUDYING LITERATURE IN ENGLISH: AN INTRODUCTION. New York: Routledge.

Tagore, R. (1891). Postmaster.

Woolf, V. (1917). The Mark on the Wall.

 McManus, D. (n.d) "The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf." The Sitting Bee. The Sitting Bee, 22 Sep. 2017. Web