Modernism was a
literary and an art movement that developed in Western society in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century. This movement was basically
characterized by the break away from the previous traditions set in art and literature.
The injunction of Ezra Pound to “Make it new!” became the basic approach of
this movement.
A modernist text or
modern fiction centers on the notions of individuality, doubt of spiritual and
governmental institutions, and the skepticism of certainty. Firstly, the
notions of individuality and the working of the human mind was one of the most
prominent and significant notion discussed in different modernist texts. Modern
writers considered man as the center of the universe and place much emphasis on
the human mind. This was due to the reason that many theories on the working of
the human mind; such as Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis and the
importance of an individual in society as presented by Karl Marx were brought
to light. Many such theories dealt with an individual as the center of
attention which was also presented by many writers. For instance, Virginia
Woolf, in her novel “To the Lighthouse” focuses on the consciousness and
unconsciousness of her characters.
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For her, a modernist
text is something that represents human life as pointed out by Woolf in Modern
Fiction:
“Proper stuff of
fiction does not exist; everything is proper stuff of fiction”.
According to Woolf,
the representation of individuality and human life form the basis of modern
fiction. Woolf in her novel, “To the Lighthouse” also emphasized this notion of
individuality where each of her characters basically presents a world in
themselves. Mrs. Ramsey is presented as a “fountain and spray of life” whereas
Mr. Ramsey is associated with the “fatal sterility of the male”. Lily Briscoe
is presented by Woolf as a representative of women empowerment and female
artistry who in contemporary society was often ridiculed by people like Tansley
who thought “women can’t paint, women can’t write”. The symbolism involved in
the novel also strengthens and helps the writer in portraying the individuality
of her characters. Similarly, the employment of the stream of consciousness
very artistically portrayed the inner world of the characters. It was a
narrative technique that depicted happenings in the novel through the natural
flow of the character's thoughts. For instance, Mrs. Ramsey’s realization
regarding the hollowness of her life in part 1 Windows, during the dinner party
was portrayed by the writer:
“Through everything,
out of everything.
Secondly, modern
fiction presents doubts on spiritual and governmental institutions. The modern
era was characterized by sudden disbelief in the Institute of religion and
government due to the theories such as the theory of evolution by Charles
Darwin which shattered the religious beliefs. Similarly, the two great World
Wars also affected the lives of the people and not only shattered the belief
system but also instigated a pessimistic attitude in the people. This disbelief
in the Institute of religion and government was presented by many writers. For
instance, in “Heart of Darkness”, Joseph Conrad criticizes the people like
Kurtz who think that it’s their duty to civilize others. Conrad criticizes the
government officials who were sent to Africa for the sole purpose of “weaning
those ignorant millions of their horrid ways” but we’re in fact running their
ugly business of stealing ivory. Similarly, William Golding also presents this
disbelief in civilization in his novel “Lord of the Flies” when he presents the
notion that how civilization is imposed on man band man’s real psyche is
attracted towards savagery and evilness.
The writers present
how the instinct of savagery is innate by using young English boys such as
Ralph and Piggy, who are symbols for civilization and democracy, who were
swayed by this instinct of savagery and participated in the mass killing of
Simon. Similarly, the killing of Simon, the boy who was presented as a Christ
figure numerous times in the novel, also highlighted the killing of religion,
innocence, and sanity. The disbelief in the institute of government was also
presented by Virginia Woolf in her novel “To the Lighthouse”. The killing of
Andrew Ramsey and the mention of the war in the second part of the novel
highlighted the horror of war and the inability of the government to save
innocent people.
Lastly, the skepticism
of certainty also forms the core of modern fiction. Many writers in their
writings showed doubts on certainty and permanence of life. This notion was
best presented by Woolf in her novel “To the Lighthouse”. Woolf presented the
impermanence of life and the permanence of art in her novel. The sudden death
of Mrs. Ramsey, the death of Andrew Ramsey in the war, and the death of Prue
Ramsey while giving birth all highlighted the uncertainty of life in the novel.
Woolf in this novel while highlighting the uncertainty of life presents the
certainty and permanence of art as pointed out by Mr. Carmichael:
“Nothing stays, all
changes but not words, not paint”.
In conclusion, one may
say that modern fiction centers on many notions including uncertainty,
individuality, and doubts on the Institute of religion and government because
for two main reasons. Firstly, the theories a d the father effects of the Wars
induced the writers to focus on these nations, and secondly, the desires of the
writers to represent life forced them to focus on such notions as pointed out
by Woolf in Modern Fiction:
“Life is not a series of gig lamps, symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous hollow an envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end”.
This article is written by Syeda Areeba Fatima, a permanent staff writer at SOL Community.
