Culture in Conflict

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Essential Question

What artistic and literary trends emerged in the 1920's?

Summary Of Research

There were a myriad amount of literary and artistic trends that emerged from the 1920's. For starters the literary trends that emerged are also endless for example during this time many writers were experimenting with stream of consciousness where a writer appears to probe a character's random thoughts and feelings without imposing any logic or order. In the artistic trends there was a new direction in painting new styles such as cubism where 3-D objects were broken into fragments and composed into complex patterns of angles and planes. In addition there is abstract art which is composed of lines, colors, and shapes with no recognizable subject matter at all. Additionally there was surrealism which is a movement that attempts to portray the workings of the unconscious mind.

Content

Scientific Discoveries: By the early 1900's, the Polish-born French Scientist Marie Curie and others were experimenting with radioactivity. They found that the atoms of certain elements, such as radium and uranium, spontaneously release charged particles. As scientists studied radioactivity further, they discovered that it could change atoms of one element into atoms of another. Such findings proved that atoms were not solid and indivisible. 1905 the German-born physicist Albert Einstein advanced his theories of relativity. Einstein argued that measurements of space and time are not absolute but are determined by many factors, some of them unknown. This idea raised questions about Newtonian science, which compared the universe to a machine operating according to absolute law. In the postwar years many scientists came to accept the theories of relativity. Too much of the general public, however, Einstein's ideas seemed to reinforce the unsettling sense of old certainties crumbling and a universe whirling beyond the understanding of human reason. The Austrian physician Sigmund Freyd also challenged faith in reason. He suggested that the subconscious mind drives much human behavior. Freud said that in civilized society, learned values such as morality and reason help people repress, or check, powerful urges. But an individual feels constant tension between repressed drives and social training. This tension, argued Freud, may cause psychological illness or physical symptoms, such as paralysis or blindness. Freud pioneered psychoanalysis. He analyzed dreams for clues to subconscious desires and developed ways to treat mental illnesses. His ideas had an impact far beyond medicine. Freud's work led artists and writers to explore the subconscious mind.

The Persistence of Memory, by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali. One of the most famous works of modern art.

Modern Art & Architecture: In the early 1900's, many western artists rejected traditional styles. Instead of trying to reproduce the real world, they explored other dimensions of color, line, and shape. Painters like Henri Matisse, outraged the public with their bold colors and odd distortions. A new direction in painting came along and before the war, the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and his friend Georges Braque had created a revolutionary new style called cubism. They broke three-dimensional objects into fragments and composed them into complex patterns of angles and planes. By redefining objects into separate shapes, they offered a new view of reality. Later, the Russian Varsily Kandinsky and the German Paul Klee moved even farther away from representing reality. Their artwork was abstract and was composed of lines, colors, and shapes with no recognizable subject matter at all. During and after the war, dada burst onto the Paris art world. Dada was a revolt against civilization. Paintings by artists like Hans Arp and Maz Ernst were intended to shock and disturb middle-class viewers. Cubism and dada helped inspire surrealism. The Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali used images of melting clocks or burning giraffes to suggest the chaotic dream state described by Freud. Architects too, rejected classical traditions and developed new styles to match an industrial, urbanized world. The famous Bauhaus school in Germany influenced architecture by blending science and technology with design. Bauhaus designers used glass, steel, and concrete but little ornamentation.

The New Literature: In the 1920's, war novels, poetry, plays, and memoirs flowed off the presses. Works like Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front exposed the grim horrors of modern warfare. Other writers heaped scorn of blundering military and political leaders. Their work reflected a powerful disgust with war that would color the European scene for decades. To many postwar writers, the war symbolized the moral breakdown of western civilization. In 1922, the American-born English poet T.S. Eliot published The Waste Land. This long poem portrays the modern world as spiritually empty and barren. In The Sun also rises, the American novelist Ernest Hemmingway shows the rootless wanderings of young people who lack deep conviction. As Freud's ideas became more and more popular, some writers experimented with Stream of consciousness. In this technique, a writer appears to probe a character's random thoughts and feelings without imposing any logic or order. In novels like Mrs. Dalloway, British novelist Virginia Woolf used streams of consciousness to explore the hidden thoughts of people as they go through the ordinary actions of their everyday lives. Te Irish novelist James Joyce went even further. In Finnegan’s Wake, he explores the inner mind of a hero who remains sound asleep throughout the novel. To convey the freedom and playfulness of the unconscious mind, Joyce invented many words including some like Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk, 100 letters long!

Women known as flappers

A Changing Society: In the aftermath of World War I, many people yearned to return to "normalcy" to life as it had been before 1914. But rapid social changes would make it hard to turn back the clock. New technologies helped create a mass culture shared by millions in the world's developed countries. Affordable cars gave middle-class people greater mobility. Movie Stars such as Charlie Chaplin had fans on every continent. Radios brought news, music, and sports into homes throughout the western world. Many radios were tuned to the new sounds of jazz. Jazz was pioneered by African American musicians, who combined western harmonies with African rhythms. Jazz musicians, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, took simple melodies and improvised endless subtle variations in rhythms and beat. They produced music that was both original and popular. Europeans embraced American pop culture, with its greater freedom and willingness to experiment. The nightclub and the sound of jazz were symbols of that freedom. In fact, the 1920's are often called the Jazz Age. After the war, rebellious young people rejected the moral values and rules of the Victorian Age and chased after excitement. Gertrude Stein, an American writer living in Paris, called them the "lost generation." Others saw them as immoral pleasure seekers. The symbols of rebellious Jazz Age youth was the liberated young women called the flapper. The first flappers were American, but their European sisters soon adopted fashion. Flappers rejected old ways. Shocking their elders, they bobbed their hair and wore skirts far shorter than those prewar fashions. They went out on dates unchaperoned, enjoyed wild new dance fads such as Charleston, smoked cigarettes, and drank in nightclubs.

Women's Lives: For most women, the postwar period brought limited progress. During the war, women had held a wide range of jobs. Although most women returned to the home when the war ended, their war work helped them win the vote in many western countries. A few women were elected to public office, such as Texas governor Miriam Ferguson or Lady Nancy Astor, the first woman to serve in the British Parliament. By the 1920's, labor-saving devices had become common in middle class homes. Washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and canned foods freed women from many time-consuming household chores. Some women found paid work outside the home. Others took volunteer jobs, providing social services or raising funds for charities. In the new atmosphere of emancipation, women pursued careers in many arenas from sports to the arts. Women golfers, tennis players, swimmers, and pilots set new records. Women worked as newspaper reporters, published bestselling novels, and won recognition for their artwork. Most professions, though, were still dominated by men. Women doing the same work as men earned much less.

Social Classes: The war had changed social values and the class system itself. In Europe, noble families had lost sons in the fighting, while Russia's noble classes were destroyed by the revolution. Peasants have suffered heavy losses. After the war, many filtered into the cities, adding the voices to protests against economic conditions. For many factory workers, wages improved in the postwar decades. Wealthy capitalists prospered in the boom times of the 1920's. The lower middle class, however, often felt pinched. It resented the successes of big business and the rising wages of workers. As the Great Depression struck, many people from this class were attracted to radical right-wing groups

Analysis

Scientific Discoveries: In the early 1900's scientist Marie Curey did many experiments and made many breakthroughs with radioactivity. Albert Einstein did a lot of work with relativity and argued that the measurements of space and time are not absolute but are determined by many factors. In addition Sigmund Freud challenged faith in reason. He suggested the subconscious mind drives much human behavior.

Modern Art and Architecture: In the early 1900's, many western artists rejected traditional styles. Instead of trying to reproduce the real world, they explored other dimensions of color, line, and shape. Painters like Henri Matisse, outraged the public with their bold colors and odd distortions.

The New Literature: In the 1920's, war novels, poetry, plays, and memoirs flowed off the presses. Works like Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front exposed the grim horrors of modern warfare. Other writers heaped scorn of blundering military and political leaders. Their work reflected a powerful disgust with war that would color the European scene for decades.

A Changing Society:In the aftermath of World War I, many people yearned to return to "normalcy" to life as it had been before 1914. But rapid social changes would make it hard to turn back the clock.

Women's Lives: For most women, the postwar period brought limited progress. By the 1920's, labor-saving devices had become common in middle class homes homes. In the new atmosphere of emancipation, women pursued careers in many arenas from sports to the arts.

Social Classes: The war had changed social values and the class system itself. The lower middle class, however, often felt pinched. It resented the successes of big business and the rising wages of workers.

Conclusion

Obviously the early 1920's was definitely a culture in conflict. Every ones views on everything was changing...drastically. Artists moved away from the traditional way to paint and did crazy abstract art that was very new and unknown to people in that time. Writers and poets also tried new writing techniques like stream of consciousness and took chances people usually didn't take. Not to mention all the science breakthroughs that went on like the study of radioactivity, relativity, and probing the mind. The views of women were also altered for example the women who were known as flappers were the symbol of the jazz age and were the liberated young women. So in conclusion the early 1900's was a time of change and a culture in conflict.

References

"1920's Technology At Its Best." 1999. 18 May 2008 [1]. Belli, Garbriella, and Germano Celant. The Artistic Culture Between the Wars 1920-1945. Skira International Corporation. Clegg, Elizabeth. Art, Design, and Architecture in Central Europe 1890-1920. Yale UP. Drowne, Kathleen. SPIRITS OF DEFIANCE: NATIONAL PROHIBITION & JAZZ AGE LITERATURE, 1920-1933. Ohio State UP, 2005. Hageman, Paul. "Propaganda Postcards of the Great War." 2003. 18 May 2008 [2]. Hanlon, Mike. "World War I- Trenches on the Web." Nov.-Dec. 1999. 18 May 2008 [3]. Hyslop, James H., and Hereward Carrington. Coming Science. New York: Kessinger. "Picturing Modern America 1880-1920." 04 Aug.-Sept. 2002. 18 May 2008 [4]. Stiles, Anne. Neurology and Literature, 1860-1920. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Tesla, Nikola. "The Vacuum Tube Era." 1998. 18 May 2008 [5]. "The History of Art Education Time Line 1920-1929." The History of Art Education Time Line 1920-1929. 08 May 2008 [6]. Wilson, John. "WW1 Tanks." 2000. 18 May 2008 [7]. "Women At the Turn of the Century." Modern Women. 15 May 2008 [8]. "World War One." 2000. 18 May 2008 [9]. "World War One Color Photos." 04 Apr.-May 2003. 18 May 2008 [10].

Culture in Conflict

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Essential Question

Summary Of Research

Content

Analysis

Conclusion

References

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