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British Literature
The 20th Century British Literature Historical Background
01
The decline of the British empire
02
The development of monopoly capitalism
03
The breakout of two World Wars
04
The coming of Modernism
The term Modernism usually refers to the early part of the 20^{th} century---- sometimes beginning with 1^{\mathfrak{s t}} World War in 1914, and continuing through the 1930 or so perhaps up to 2nd World War.
It is defined by its rejection of the literary conventions of the nineteenth century and by its opposition to conventional morality, taste, traditions ,and economic values.
Modernism: psycho-analysis
While modernist poetry arose as a break with 19^{\mathfrak{t h}} century Romanticism, modernist fiction represented a trend drifting away from the tradition of 19^{\mathfrak{t h}} century realism.
Modernist fiction put emphasis on the description of the characters’ psychological activities, and so has sometimes been called modern psychological fiction
Modernism: stream of consciousness
It is a psychological term indicating “ the flux (a flow; continuous movement and change) of conscious and subconscious thoughts and impressions moving in the mind at any given time independently of the person's will”.
The striking feature of these novelists is their giving precedence to the depiction of the characters’ mental and emotional reactions to external events, rather than the events themselves.
