Weeks 10-12
Modernism:
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
Modernism
ReplyDeleteT.S Eliot reflects his unhappy first marriage and disillusionment in this poem, Wasteland as it is seen in the first four lines of “The Burial of the Dead” –
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
And in lines 19 – 24, his disillusionment of broken images of dead tree branches and its roots was revealed.
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water.
Reference:
T.S. Eliot (1922). The Waste Land. New York: Horace Liveright, 1922; Bartleby.com, 2011. www.bartleby.com/201/1.html#[linenumber].
Modernism, as explicitly stated in Merriam-Webster Learners Dictionary, is a style of art, architecture, literature, etc., that uses the ideas and methods which are very different from those used in the past.
DeleteThe key features of modernism can be summarised as follows:
1. an emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in writing (and in visual arts as well); an emphasis on HOW seeing (or reading or perception itself) takes place, rather than on WHAT is perceived. An example of this would be stream-of-consciousness writing.
2. a movement away from the apparent objectivity provided by omniscient third-person narrators, fixed narrative points of view, and clear-cut moral positions. Faulkner's multiply-narrated stories are an example of this aspect of modernism.
3. a blurring of distinctions between genres, so that poetry seems more documentary (as in T.S. Eliot or E.E. Cummings) and prose seems more poetic (as in Woolf or Joyce).
4. an emphasis on fragmented forms, discontinuous narratives, and random-seeming collages of different materials.
5. a rejection of elaborate formal aesthetics in favour of minimalist designs (as in the poetry of William Carlos Williams) and a rejection, in large part, of formal aesthetic theories, in favour of spontaneity and discovery in creation.
6. a rejection of elaborate formal aesthetics in favour of minimalist designs (as in the poetry of William Carlos Williams) and a rejection, in large part, of formal aesthetic theories, in favour of spontaneity and discovery in creation.
7. a rejection of the distinction between "high" and "low" or popular culture, both in choice of materials used to produce art and in methods of displaying, distributing, and consuming art.
The definition of modernism comes from the aesthetic movement broadly labeled "modernism." This movement is roughly having the same boundaries or extent in space, time, or meaning with twentieth century Western ideas about art. Modernism tends to present a fragmented view of human subjectivity and history, but presents that fragmentation as something tragic, something to be lamented and mourned as a loss.
Reference:
Klages, M. (n.d.) Postmodernism. Retrieved 25 May 2016 from http://www.bdavetian.com/Postmodernism.html
Wasteland, as stated in the third definition in Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means something (as a way of life) that is spiritually and emotionally arid and unsatisfying, with “barren and desolation” as synonyms.
DeleteEliot reflects his unhappy first marriage and disillusionment that are comparable to a wasteland.
Reference:
Merriam-Wesbster Dictionary. Wasteland. (n.d.) Retrieved May 27, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wasteland
Beat poetry came to evolution during the 1950s by a band of poets after World War II. These poets were Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso, who later became known as the beat generation. "It was Kerouac who coined the term 'Beat Generation.' It was meant to describe how they felt beat down, defeated and out of place among the returning soldiers and businessmen." (Calareso, n.d) The sole purpose of the writing of the beat generation was to express their isolation from conventional society.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Calareso, J. (n.d.) The Beat Generation: Characteristics of Beat Poetry. Retrieved June 3, 2016, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-beat-generation-characteristics-of-beat-poetry.html
The link between beat poetry and some rap music, not all, is that just like the Beat poets they also "express their isolation from conventional society." The only obvious difference is, they express them through different mediums. Rap is according to Cambridge Dictionaries Online "to perform the type of popular music of African-American origin that features rhythmic speaking set to a strong beat." Another link between both the beat poetry and rap music is the high drug references within them. Woollaston (2014) wrote about a recent study carried out about the drug lyrics present in rap songs and came to the conclusion that "weed and cocaine have consistently been prevalent in rap music." In Ginsberg's, 'America,' he quotes, "I smoke marijuana every chance I get." These are the only links between rap and beat poetry that I have managed to summon.
DeleteReferences:
Cambridge Dictionaries Online. (n.d.). Rap. Retrieved from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/rap
Woollaston, V. (2014). How rap reveals trends in DRUGS: Graphs show how hip-hop lyrics plot the rise and fall of illegal substances. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2624237/How-rap-reveals-trends-DRUGS-Graphs-hip-hop-lyrics-plot-rise-fall-illegal-substances.html
• What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
ReplyDeleteThe beats were more of a social and literary movement during the early 1950’s. Jack Kerouac had first introduced the name as “beat” and its meaning was ‘weary.’ A common theme found between its name and the time ‘beat’ came around was the tiredness of it.
Some of the things that the “Beats” had in common was the hostility from the unoriginal, ideas around Government and politics. They were mainly aimed at the war and the political concepts shaped around society and the things the government hadn’t approved of. Beat movement was started and introduced by confronting their ideas and through art and writing. This was seen as a way for people to feel like they had freedom to speak out in America. In some areas of the States, Beat movements and their work weren’t sold at public places because store owners didn’t like what the ‘beats’ had to say about society.
Something interesting I found on the internet stated, “They sought to liberate poetry from academic precocity and bring it ‘back to the street.’ The people, or more importantly the writers were encouraged to speak freely and openly about their worldviews or their ideas on the way society has been formed. Beats were more highlighted around the time of the war and even the civil war. Promising the idea that their stories would be told and voices would be heard, even if they weren’t legally allowed to speak out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapping
The Wasteland
ReplyDeleteModernism:
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features?
3) In what way has it been influential?
The poem is spilt into 5 different segments symbolising certain significances throughout his life. It could be possible mean that it was also a time of his childhood growing up in the eyes of World War 1. It could be that this is a result of his unhappy marriage as well. The title Wasteland gives a uneasy feeling because instantly you would think a whole of a bunch of nothing and a place with no important meaning. With examples from the texts I can see that T.S Eliot didn’t grow up with such a happy life. Spring to me is a season to be happy and joyful but it isn’t until we are introduced into his sad childhood where It talks about how nothing much could grow on the land his that his memories were like “broken images.” E.g
Lines 19-22
“What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, you you know only
A heap of broken images….”
Some of the key features involve things such as sub-text (the deeper story) and the way the story is told by the Narrator. The sub-text opens up the readers mind to not just reading but gives the opportunity to really picture and understand the surroundings. For example in the Fire Sermon there are two people who are having “loveless sex” at a river bend where suddenly they hear a song “The music crept by me upon the waters” (257). I think this has a connection to his marriage and the fact that it wasn’t the happiest makes me understand the text even more. Just the Sub-text the Narrator creates a more personal view and because this poem is already heavily inspired by aspects of Eliot’s life it breathes emotion. Emotion is one of the key features I believe keep the reader engaged and able to see from a different point of view.
It is influential because of deep and charismatic story. Though it may it have started of dull and unfortunate but it is what we do face in real life. It does on the other give a slight glance of hope not only for the reader but for narrator as well. In a way it makes people see that the bad things are actually the good things which we grow stronger and learn from every time. We need to restore faith in ourselves and other to move on if we want to be happy. It is us who control the outcomes of our future.
Lines 420-422
“The was calm, your would have responded
Gailey, when invited, beating obedient
To controlling hands”
In line 420 it's meant to say:
Delete"The sea was calm, your heart would have responded"