Lecture 15 English Literature from 1945 -2000

Lecture #15 English Literature from 1945 -2000

Historical Background – Postwar Britain 1941 - Britain + Soviet Union + the United States succeeded in defeating Germany and Japan by August 1945. the Americans and Soviets soon became rivals in a Cold War for control of the postwar world. With these superpowers in possession of atomic weapons, there was a new threat of nuclear world war. Between the end of the 2 nd World War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, English literature reflected the rapid and sometimes difficult changes that were occurring in people’s lives in a period of instability and tension. On the global scale, this tension was best illustrated in the opposition of two nuclear superpowers, the USA and the USSR, that became known as the cold war. Britain played a declining role in this bipolar world.

Historical Background – Postwar Britain after the WW 2 was virtually bankrupt. Because of shortages, food rationing was increased. Coal rationing did not end until 1958. Two world wars also hastened the end of the British Empire. India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947, followed a year later by Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma (Myanmar), and Palestine (Israel). To many British country’s diminished status was a blow to national pride. For many others, however, the loss of Britain’s colonies was a relief. After the war, the Labour government set out to create a modern welfare state — a state in which the government takes responsibility for providing people with basic services. In 1946 the National Insurance Act and the National Health Service Act were passed to provide funds to those in need and health care for everyone. The British welfare state became the model for most western European countries after the war.

Shift in Values Various social changes generated widespread anxiety. The youth rebellion that affected American society in the 1960 s had its counterpart in Britain. Many British, particularly older people, objected to the increasing “permissiveness” they observed in mass media, including advertising, movies, television, and popular music. The relationship among the long-established classes of English society began to break down as the power of the common people increased. Nothing in postwar Britain seemed safe and secure.

The theme of the 2 nd World War: Evelyn Waugh “The Sword of Honour” The Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh is his look at the Second World War. It consists of three novels, Men at Arms (1952), Officers and Gentlemen (1955) and Unconditional Surrender (1961), which loosely parallel his wartime experiences. Theme: a celebration of the virtues of tradition, of family and feudal loyalty, of paternalist hierarchy, of the continuity of institutions and of the heroic ideal and the calamitous disappearance of these which has led to the emptiness and futility of the modern world. It paints an ironic picture of regimental life in the British Army and is a satire on the wasteful and perverse bureaucracy of modern warfare. Waugh come to the conclusion, that fascism and communism are just two sides of one medal.

Dystopian literature: George Orwell “The animal farm” (1944 -45), “ 1984” (1949) Animal Farm is an allegorical novella. According to Orwell the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, and then on into the Stalin era in the Soviet Union. It was written at a time (November 1943 February 1944) when the wartime alliance with the Soviet Union was at its height and Stalin was held in highest esteem in Britain both among the people and intelligentsia, a fact that Orwell hated.

Dystopian literature: The novel addresses not only the corruption of the revolution by its leaders but also how wickedness, indifference, ignorance, greed corrupt the revolution. It portrays corrupt leadership as the flaw in revolution, rather than the act of revolution itself. It also shows how potential ignorance and indifference to problems within a revolution could allow horrors to happen if a smooth transition to a people's government is not achieved.

The original commandments of Animalism: 1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3. No animal shall wear clothes. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol. 6. No animal shall kill any other animal. 7. All animals are equal. Later, Napoleon and his pigs secretly revise some commandments to clear them of accusations of law-breaking: "All animals are equal, but 4 No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. some animals are more equal than others“ 5 No animal shall drink alcohol to excess. 6 No animal shall kill any other animal without "Four legs good, two legs cause. 2. better!" as the pigs become more human.

Dystopian Literature Aldous Huxley “Brave New World” (1932). The novel is set in London of AD 2540 (632 A. F. in the book) It anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of futurology.

Political and detective novels: Charles Percy Snow “Corridors of Power” (1964) Graham Green (1904 -1991) “The Confidential Agent”(1939), “The Third Man” (1949) “The Quiet American” (1955) “Our Man in Havana” (1958) “The Human Factor”(1978) His novels show an avid interest in the workings of international politics and espionage, often have religious themes at the centre. Suffering and unhappiness are omnipresent in the world Greene depicts; and Catholicism is presented against a background of unvarying human evil, sin, and doubt. Ian Fleming – the James Bond series (1952)

The Angry Young Men: The "angry young men" were a group of mostly working and middle class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950 s. The group's leading members included John Osborne Kingsley and Amis. The phrase was originally coined by the Royal Court Theatre's press officer to promote John Osborne's 1956 play “Look Back in Anger”. They did not consider themselves a group: "They do not belong to a united movement. Far from it; they attack one another directly or indirectly in these pages. Some were even reluctant to appear between the same covers with others whose views they violently oppose. " Their political views were usually seen as identifying with the left, sometimes anarchistic, and they described social alienation of different kinds. They also often expressed their critical views on society as a whole, criticising certain behaviours or groups in different ways.

The Angry Young Men: The New University Wits refers to Oxbridge malcontents who explored the contrast between their upper-class university privilege and their middle-class upbringings. They included Kingsley Amis, Philip Larkin, and John Wain, all of whom were also part of the poetic circle known as The Movement. Also included in the Angry Young Men a small group of young was existentialist philosophers led by Colin Wilsonand also including Stuart Holroyd Bill Hopkins and. John Osborne “Look Back in Anger” (1956) Kingsley Amis “Lucky Jim” (1954) John Wain “Hurry up Down” (1953)

Philosophical Fables: Dame. Iris Murdoch (1919 -1999) Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her novels, in their attention and generosity to the inner lives of individuals, follow the tradition of novelists like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, George Eliot, and Proust, besides showing an abiding love of Shakespeare. Under the Net, 1954 The Sand Castle, 1957 The Unicorn, 1963 The Black Prince, 1972 The Philosopher’s Pupil, 1983 “Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one’s luck. ”

Philosophical Fables: William Golding (1911 -1993 ) Golding's often allegorical fiction makes broad use of allusions to classical literature, mythology, and Christian symbolism. fundamental pessimism about humanity his novels are often set in closed communities such as islands, villages, monasteries, groups of hunter-gatherers, ships at sea or a pharaoh's court. Lord of the Flies (1954) The Inheritors (1955) Pincher Martin (1956) Free Fall (1959) The Spire (1964) The Pyramid (1967) The Scorpion God (1971) Darkness Visible (1979)

Philosophical Fables: The Lord of the Flies (1954) a novel about a group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results. controversial subjects of human nature and individual welfare versus the common good. At an allegorical level, the central theme is the conflicting impulses toward civilization – live by rules, peacefully and in harmony – and towards the will to power. Themes include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality. How these play out, and how different people feel the influences of these, form a major subtext of Lord of the Flies.

Philosophical Fables: In his essay “Fable” Golding writes: “The fabulist is a moralist. He cannot make a story without a human lesson tucked away in it. ” According to Golding, the fabulist is didactic and desires to inculcate a moral lesson. A clear distinction can be made between a fable and a non-fable. In a non-fable the writer is concerned in presenting a realistic picture of life with all its trials and tribulations, whereas in a fable the author tries to inculcate a moral lesson into an imaginary story. The fable usually follows a particular pattern which at times may vary, but usually falls into a general mould.

Philosophical Fables: Anthony Burgess (1917 -1993) “A Clockwork Orange” was published in 1962. The book was an examination of free will and morality. The young anti-hero, Alex, captured after a short career of violence and mayhem, undergoes a course of aversion therapy treatment to curb his violent tendencies. This results in making him defenseless against other people and unable to enjoy some of his favorite music that, besides violence, had been an intense pleasure for him.

Drama Samuel Barclay Beckett (1906 – 1989) an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in Paris for most of his adult life and wrote in both English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour. Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. “Waiting for Godot” (1953) - an absurdist play, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. They claim he's an acquaintance but in fact hardly know him, admitting that they would not recognize him when they do see him. To occupy the time they eat, sleep, converse, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide – anything "to hold the terrible silence at bay". Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere.

Drama Sir Tom Stoppard (born Tomáš Straüssler; 3 July 1937) is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as: Arcadia (1993), The Coast of Utopia (2002), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977), The Real Thing (1982) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966). Themes of human rights, censorship and political freedom pervade his work along with exploration of linguistics and philosophy. Stoppard has been a key playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. “I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you might nudge the world a little or make a poem that children will speak for you when you are dead. ” (The real thing)

Comparison of Modernism and Post-modernism. Realism (end of the 19 th century – beginning of the 20 th century): objectivity typification the reality is given in development art is a means of cognition, its main functions is educational Modernism (1910 -1930) Perspectivism : the locating of meaning from the viewpoint of the individual; the use of narrators located within the action of the fiction, experiencing from a personal, particular (as opposed to an omniscient, 'objective') perspective; the use of many voices, contrasts and contestations of perspective. Impressionism : an emphasis on the process of perception and knowing: the use of devices (formal, linguistic, representational), to present more closely the texture or process or structure of knowing and perceiving.

Comparison of Modernism and Post-modernism. Modernism (1910 -1930) A re-structuring of literature and the experience of reality it re-presents. Modernist literature is marked by a break with the sequential, developmental, cause-and-effect presentation of the 'reality' of realist fiction, toward a presentation of experience as layered, allusive, discontinuous ; the use, to these ends, of fragmentation and juxtaposition , motif, symbol, allusion. The (re)presentation of inner (psychological) reality, including the 'flow' of experience, through devices such as stream of consciousness. The use of such structural approaches to experience as psychoanalysis , myth, the symbolic apprehension and comprehension of reality. The use of interior or symbolic landscape: the world is moved 'inside', structured symbolically or metaphorically -- as opposed to the Romantic interaction with transcendent forces acting through the exterior world, and Realist representations of the exterior world as a physical, historical, contiguous site of experience.

Comparison of Modernism and Post-modernism. Postmodernism (1945 -present) Irony, playfulness, black humor (e. g. Joseph Heller “Catch 22”) Pastiche ◦ Many postmodern authors combined, or “pasted” elements of previous genres and styles of literature to create a new narrative voice, or to comment on the writing of their contemporaries. Thomas Pynchon, one of the most important postmodern authors, uses elements from detective fiction, science fiction, and war fiction, songs, pop culture references, and well-known, obscure, and fictional history. Metafiction ◦ writing about writing, an attempt to make the reader aware of its ficitionality, and, sometimes, the presence of the author. Authors sometimes use this technique to allow for flagrant shifts in narrative, impossible jumps in time, or to maintain emotional distance as a narrator. Temporal distortion ◦ a literary technique that uses a nonlinear timeline; the author may jump forwards or backwards in time, or there may be cultural and historical references that do not fit. This technique is frequently used in literature, but it has become even more common in films.

Comparison of Modernism and Post-modernism. Postmodernism (1945 -present) Paranoia ◦ Many postmodern authors write under the assumption that modern society cannot be explained or understood. From that point of view, any apparent connections or controlling influences on the chaos of society would be very frightening, and this lends a sense of paranoia to many postmodern works. Faction ◦ subject material is based on actual events, but writers of faction tend to blur the line between fact and fiction to the degree that it is almost impossible to know the difference between the two. Magical realism ◦ Arguably the most important postmodern technique, magical realism is the introduction of fantastic or impossible elements into a narrative that is otherwise normal. Magical realist novels may include dreams taking place during normal life, the return of previously deceased characters, extremely complicated plots, wild shifts in time, and myths and fairy tales becoming part of the narrative. Many critics argue that magical realism has its roots in the work of Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, two South American writers, and some have classified it as a Latin American style.

Comparison of Modernism and Post-modernism. Postmodernism (1945 -present) Participation ◦ Many postmodern authors, as a response to modernism, which frequently set its authors apart from their readers, attempt to involve the reader as much as possible over the course of a novel. This can take the form of asking the reader questions, including unwritten narratives that must be constructed by the reader, or allowing the reader to make decisions regarding the course of the narrative. British Postmodernists: Грэм Свифт (Graham Swift, born 1949) «Водоземье» (Waterland, 1983) Анжела Картер (Angela Carter , 1940 -1992) «Мудрые дети» , 1991 Питер Акройд (Peter Ackroyd , born 1949) «Английская музыка» , 1992, «Дом доктора Ди» , 1993 Энтони Байетт (Antonia Byatt , born 1936) «Обладание» , 1990, «Антены и насекомые» , 1992 Джулиан Барнс (Julian Barnes ) «История мира в 10 ½ главах» (A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters, 1989)

Comparison of Modernism and Post-modernism. American Postmodernists: Charles Bukowski (1920 -1994 ) ◦ ◦ ◦ Post Office (1971) Factotum (1975) Women (1978) Ham on Rye (1982) Hollywood (1989) Pulp (1994) “We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing. ” ― Charles Bukowski “I don't hate people. I just feel better when they aren't around. ” ― Charles Bukowski

Comparison of Modernism and Post-modernism. American Postmodernists: Joseph Heller “ Catch 22” (1968) The novel’s central conflict – at once the source of both the great humour and profound pathos of the text – stems from the imagined piece of military code that gives the novel its title and has since been absorbed into the English language as a popular idiom. Thomas Pinchon (b. 1937 ) “Gravity's Rainbow” (1973) “Inherent Vice” (2009) John Barth (b. 1930) The Floating Opera (1956) The End of the Road (1958) Every Third Thought: A Novel in Five Seasons (2011)