A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MODERN LITERATURE
- By Kanvi Khatri, XII-B
- Tue,23 Apr 2024
My thought is me: that's why I can't stop. I exist because I think . . . and I can't stop myself from thinking. ~Jean Paul Sartre While warriors fought ruinous wars, giving rise to a new world order, there sat several writers, whose ideologies and words would change the mindsets of the millions suffering from the war. Soon the modern literary writers rose, with their ideology of existentialism, following Marxism and questioning capitalism. Modernism in literature was a literary movement that focused on contemporary elements and began after the First World War. Authors like Jean Paul Sartre, Dostoevsky and Franz Kafka were some of many who focused on themes of Existentialism and Marxism and also began questioning authority. Existentialism means that a person is a free and responsible agent who can determine their own course through acts of will and Marxism was an ideology started by Karl Marx that focused on a classless society and didn't approve private ownership of property. In Kafka's work, we see that it also involves psychological themes that were related to the postwar era, dissociation from the human race and an unhealthy pattern of relationships which is believed to be related to the writer's own relationship mainly with his father. Nausea, the most celebrated novel by Sartre, is the story of Antoine Roquentin, who is horrified at his own existence and records his feelings ruthlessly in a diary form. Fyodor Dostoevsky is a Russian writer, who greatly influenced Kafka. His literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed novels include Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. His novella, Notes from Underground, is considered to be one of the first works of existentialist literature. Other than the postwar themes, modern literature was also greatly influenced by the themes of Death, Immortality and Feminism. Emily Dickinson is considered one of the first feminist and sapphic literary poets. Even though she didn't write during the modern era, her poems greatly influence it. Born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts, Dickinson spent her lifetime at her birthplace, living in her parents’ house. Most of her poems were published after she died, when her younger sister Lavinia discovered her cache of poems. The few poems that were published in her lifetime were, unfortunately, significantly edited to fit the conventional poetry rules. Some poems successfully showcase her relationship with Susan, her sister-in-law, whom she affectionately called Sue. Another renowned modern feminist literary writer is Sylvia Plath, who died at the age of 30. She advanced the confessional form of poetry, which is a style of poetry that focuses on the real-life experiences and history of the poet, including emotional and psychological trauma; and bridges the gap betweenthe poet and the speaker of the poem. Plath is best known for The Colossus and Other Poems, Ariel, and The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death. Dive into the realm of modern literature, as you become free thinkers, allow yourselves to let go of the traditional order of reading and writing and explore the brutal truths of life as we see it now. Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it. I want to become acutely aware of all I've taken for granted. ~Sylvia Plath