History of American ...

·         Poetry

     One of the defining characteristics of modernism, its emphasis on experimentation, was particularly evident in poetry. At the turn of the twentieth century, numerous poets and poetic movements began to challenge conventional notions of poetic form and subject matter. Traditional structures, such as consistent meter, rhyme schemes, and stanzaic organization, gave way to more unconventional techniques like free verse, fragmentation, irregular rhythms, and the use of slant rhymes. In terms of content, poets increasingly turned away from grand, universal themes, instead focusing either on the immediacy of everyday urban life and material reality or on abstract, philosophical, mystical, and mythological concerns.

     The most prominent American poets, such as T.S. Eliot, were naturally drawn to European artistic circles and spent much of their creative lives in Europe. Eliot even became a British citizen and lived in London for the majority of his life. Ezra Pound, similarly, moved to Europe, though his reasons were more connected to his intellectual pursuits and desire for artistic experimentation. On the other hand, several influential American writers remained in the United States or only briefly traveled abroad. These included figures like William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, as well as Carl Sandburg and Edgar Lee Masters. This division often led to a perceived split in American literature, with one group of poets creating sophisticated works in Europe, while another focused on depicting the landscapes and realities of America, both urban and rural. (Baym 45)

• Ezra Pound

     A discussion of modern poetry without Ezra Pound would not be possible since he is considered by many as the poet who defined modernism and also became one of the most important American poets of the twentieth century. Pound declared a statement of the three principles of poetry which are:  “direct treatment of  the  “thing,” whether subjective or objective. 2. To use absolutely no word that did not contribute to the presentation. 3. As regarding rhythm: to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of a metronome” (“‘A Retrospect’” ‘A Few Don’t ”). In the article “A Few Don’t”  by an Imagiste,” Pound elaborated on the principles, specifying especially his understanding of the concept of image, rhythm  and rhyme.  (26)

• T.S.Eliot

      It would be quite difficult to find literary works more characteristic and symptomatic of twentieth century Anglophone literature than T. S. Eliot’s long poem The Waste Land. For many, it has become a symptomatic expression not only of the period when it was published, i.e. the aftermath of WWI with its disillusionment and the ensuing anxieties of modern life in the city, but of the general loss of values in the years to come as well. Initially, the poem’s publication was an important event on the cultural scenes of both England and the USA. The person who was responsible for this, greatly shaping its final form by extensive proofreading and then using his influence among the publishers to

arrange for its printing on both sides of the Atlantic, was Ezra Pound. He immediately recognised the importance of Eliot and considered The Waste Land to be as good as Ulysses: “His poem is as good in its way as  Ulysses , there is so DAMN little genius, so DAMN little work that one can take hold and say ‘This at any rate stands, makes a definite part of literature ’” (qtd. in Rainey 28).

       The fact that T. S. Eliot was not only a poet but an important critic makes it necessary to view his poetry, including The Waste Land, within a larger picture, not only as an emotional outburst (he was writing it during strong upheavals in his marriage), but also as the imaginative embodiment of his opinions regarding cultural and philosophical phenomena of the time. It is a poem in which the individual self is firmly interlinked with its cultural constitution. Without the ability to sense a rich layer of cultural backdrop behind the self’s inner emotional drama, one cannot fully comprehend the universality of the poem’s appeal. (Pokrivcav 28).

• Wallace Stevens

      Imagery holds a central place in the poetry of Wallace Stevens, another key American literary figure. While Stevens wasn't directly affiliated with the Imagist movement, he maintained close ties with some of its members, especially William Carlos Williams. As Juhasz notes, Stevens was influenced by Imagism, and this likely encouraged his own stylistic innovations. Stevens believed that poetry should center on the imagination, considering it both the main tool for expressing reality and the essential medium through which perception is shaped. One of his earliest and best-known poems that explores the fundamental nature of reality is the often-quoted "The Snow Man." (Byam 55). 

·         Novels

      “You are a lost generation ”, these are the famous words of Gertrude Stein used as a motto in Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises,  a programmatic work of a generation of American writers who left the USA and spent a considerable part of their careers in post WWI Europe. They fled America because of dissatisfaction with its values and conventions, its institutions and morality, and went to European capitals; mostly London and Paris, but also Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome. In Europe, they participated in significant events affecting the continent and tried to reflect them in a new style of writing (economy of language, symbolism, fragmentation, and pictorial language), since the old Victorian ways based on writers’ ethical treatment of social issues were not applicable for the depiction of distress in the aftermath of WWI. The presence of war affected their own lives and values, estranging them to the common, simple pleasures of human existence, and making them abandoned and lost. Although the “Lost Generation” was never a group with fixed membership or statutes, scholars usually agree that the most important artists included in the group are Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein “tutor.” (Pokrivcav 49)

• Ernest Hemingway

      If one of the most important features of modernism was a new way and style of writing, then Ernest Hemingway cannot be excluded from the list of prominent stylistic innovators. He is usually characterised as a person who brought simplicity of expression but complexity of thought. His “Iceberg theory ” forces the reader to read between the lines to get to the meaning of simple and clear sentences. There is no doubt that such linguistic “minimalism ” is also associated with his initial journalistic experience at the Kansas City Star. The reporters there had to follow the journal’s style, summarised into a style sheet consisting of 110 directives: “Ernest himself later said the 110 directives were ‘the best rules I’ve ever learned for the business of writing”.  The main precepts were ‘Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative’” (Dearborn 46). Hemingway’s avoidance of clichéd adjectives also stems from his journalistic Kansas City experience. Another dictum was to avoid adjectives, especially words like ‘gorgeous,’ ‘grand,’ or ‘marvellous.’ Similarly, ‘Slang to be enjoyable must be fresh’” (Dearborn 46).

     Ernest Hemingway can be regarded as one of the literary giants of the twentieth century, particularly noted for his exploration of the cultural and social tensions between Europe and America during times of war, and for his profound reflections on the human condition. Over time, he broadened his thematic focus, which contributed to his receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature. The award recognized "his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence he has exerted on contemporary literary style" (The Nobel Prize, 1954).

• Francis Scott Fitzgerald

      Few figures capture the spirit of the “Roaring Twenties” or the Jazz Age as vividly as F. Scott Fitzgerald. This vibrant decade was marked by several defining events and cultural shifts, including the Prohibition Era (1919–1933), during which alcohol was banned, sparking widespread bootlegging, the rise of secret bars known as speakeasies, and the growth of organized crime. The era also saw the explosive popularity of jazz music, the burgeoning film industry with Hollywood at its center, and a frenzy of stock market speculation. Americans became enthralled by music, dancing, alcohol, and sexual liberation. Fitzgerald not only explored these themes in his literary works but also lived them. His life mirrored the era’s excesses, marked by lavish parties, alcohol abuse, and relentless writing to fund his lifestyle. His best work to represent modernism is The Great Gatsby.  (Pokrivcav 54)

• William Faulkner

     William Faulkner was the author who most thoroughly explored the mythology of the American South throughout his body of work. A lifelong Southerner, Faulkner dedicated much of his literary career to capturing the imagined history of the region through his short stories and novels. His works often focus on traditional Southern communities grappling with deep-rooted racial tensions. Set primarily in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, these narratives elevate regional experiences into reflections on broader human struggles. His famous works are “A Rose for Emily” and The Sound and the Fury.  (56)

·         Drama

     The history of American drama is usually traced back to the late nineteenth century when authors like Bronson Howard and Claude Fitch began writing their plays. However, the first real success came only with Eugene O’Nneill (1888 – 1953) who in 1936 received the Nobel Prize for literature. Eugene O’Neill’s  plays are psychological treatments of the strength of human emotions, often stemming from his own family problems, and modelled on ancient drama. One of his best-known plays is Mourning Becomes Electra,  an analogy with Aeschylus’ trilogy Oresteia. His aim was, in fact, to test whether it would be possible to use the Greek sense of fate in a modern play performed for people without belief in God and supernatural retribution (Chirico 81)

     Eugene O’Neill, recognized as the first American modernist playwright, integrated various stylistic and thematic elements into his work. He blended naturalistic influences both psychological and environmental with expressionistic portrayals of alienation and existential dread. His plays often explore the tension between the individual and an indifferent society, or even the broader universe. In Mourning Becomes Electra, these themes unfold symbolically within a Puritan framework, rich with notions of sin and guilt that are deeply rooted in the American cultural psyche. Through the character of Lavinia Mannon, O’Neill presents a powerful representation of the destructive potential of the human mind.

     Alongside Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams, other key figures in American modernist theatre included Arthur Miller (1915–2005), best known for his iconic plays Death of a Salesman (1949) and The Crucible (1953). Edward Albee (1928–2016) also emerged as a major force, introducing the theatre of the absurd to American audiences with The Zoo Story (1958). His later play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1962), built upon the rich tradition of American family drama, echoing the psychological depth and tension found in earlier works like Mourning Becomes Electra and A Streetcar Named Desire. (Pokrivcav 72)