Discussion – Literary movements

Literary movements

Explain what you know about each literary movement.

Read the explanation and discuss. If you still don’t understand, research.

● Romanticism (late 1700s–mid 1800s) 

Romanticism reacted against the Enlightenment’s assertion that rationality was the only way to  discover truth. The Romantics propounded imagination, emotion, individuality, and the  subliminality of Nature as valid avenues to truth as well. British Romantics who spearheaded  the movement emphasised themes of Nature, beauty, and poetic genius; German Romantics  valued wit, humour, beauty, and individualism. Romantics include Samuel Taylor Coleridge,  John Keats, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

● American Romanticism & Transcendentalism (mid 1800s)

Mirrors the English Romantic period but American romanticism was predominately fiction,  rather than poetry, and it also had a strong albeit slightly morbid interest in history. American  transcendentalism had a strong interest in nature. Transcendentalists include Emerson and  Thoreau. 

Unlike English Romantics, American Romantics predominantly wrote fiction rather than poetry.  They also took darker views, exploring human frailty, the power of Nature, and the (morbid)  supernatural. On the other hand, Transcendentalism believed in the inherent goodness of  people and Nature, which had been corrupted by society and institutions. Key figures of these  movement included Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott.

● Gothic (late 1700s–late 1800s)

The Gothic literary movement overlapped with the Romantic and Victorian periods. Gothic novels  served as a precursor to horror novels and involved elements of fear, horror, the supernatural and  the darkness. Vampires, demons, heroes, heroines and villains are popular character archetypes  in Gothic literature and other elements may include mystery, romance, lust and dread. Notable  examples include Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Bram Stoker, and Wuthering  Heights by Emily Bronte.

● Impressionism (late 1800s)

Impressionism in literature was inspired by the European Impressionist art movement which  originated with a group of French artists in the 19th century. Impressionists seek to capture a  feeling or experience rather than focusing on accuracy and perfection in their depictions. It  features an ambiguous narrative style that describes action through the eyes of the character while  the events are occuring, rather than providing minute details, and it focuses on how and why  things happen rather than the order they occurred in. Well-known authors include Joseph  Conrad, James Joyce and Henry James.

● Post-impressionism (early 1900s)

Post-impressionism is the term used to describe the reaction towards the Impressionism and it  enabled writers to push the boundaries of traditional writing forms and transform their works  into brilliant depictions of imagery. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is a prime example of this as  she utilises “moments of being” to allow the reader to recognise and develop appreciation for these  simple moments that are often overlooked and stream of consciousness writing to eliminate  authorial presence by sharing a loosely organised pattern of thoughts. The writings of this period  are more sensational and emotional rather than interpretive.

● Realism (mid-1800s to early 1900s)

Literary realism attempts to present familiar things such as, everyday and banal activities and  experiences. Realist authors chose to avoid using romanticised or stylised presentation. Writers  of this movement include Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, and Kate Chopin.

● Modernism (late 1800s–early 1900s)

Against the backdrop of a rapidly modernising, urbanising, and industrialising world, Modernists  rejected traditional philosophies and forms of artmaking in favour of, in the words of poet Ezra  Pound, “Mak[ing] it new”. They celebrated abstraction, experimentation, and grand narratives.  Modernists also commented on the detriment of unthinking urbanisation exemplified by World  War I. Famous modernists include T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, and Gertrude Stein.

● Postmodernism (late 1900s)

Reacting against Modernism, Postmodernists rejected grand narratives and the idea that  anything could truly be “new”. Postmodernism is characterised by attitudes of skepticism and  irony, creating allusive and tongue-in-cheek works. It emphasises that knowledge and values are  products of particular political, historical, and cultural constructs. Common techniques in  postmodern literature include fragmentation, paradox, and unreliable narrator. Notable texts  include A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, and  Monkey Grip by Helen Garner.