Definition Of Modernism In Fiction Essay -- essays research papers

Definition of Modernism in Fiction Modernism, in literature, can be seen as a shift in focus to the unassociated introspective reflection of compositors cases in such texts as Go Tell It On The Mountain, by mob Baldwin, Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. This is a revision from the previous focal point of exterior events and places in correlation with the characters reflections. Emphasis is placed on review upon feelings and thoughts, and even conversations with oneself, as opposed to the more directly event-driven reflections in texts of the pre-modernist era. This is not to say that texts of the modernist era commit no events, or that their characters sit at home all day long thinking. Many activities take place in these texts, but the characters tend to evanesce time reflecting upon basically uncorrelated ideas, and to ponder what they mean for him. For example, in Go Tell it On the Mountain, when his aunt, Florence, comes to ch urch for the first time, John knows, "it was the hand of the Lord that had conduct her to this place, and his heart grew cold. The Lord was riding on the wind tonight. What might that wind have spoken before the morning came?"(61). Johns pondering of the Lord "riding on the wind" seems somewhat unrelated to his aunt coming to church. His premonition that something would happen tonight has nothing to do with the current events. It can be seen, in the broader comment of modernism provi...