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Period: to
Modernism
Modernistic art and literature revolved around the ideas of individualism, mistrust of institutions (government, religion),
identity, unity, authority, and certainty
and the disbelief of any absolute truths. British authors were highly influenced and started writing more intellectually challenging works or by pushing the boundaries of acceptable content. -
Queen Victoria dies
She was succcedded by her son Edward VII -
Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness " is published
An postcolonial reading, "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad revolves around an unnamed narrator who is sailing on the Nellie with his three friends downstream London. Based upon the time period of 1876 and 1892, the novel opens on the Thames River outside London, where Marlow the main character is telling the story that makes up Heart of Darkness. Events of the story take place in Brussels, the Company’s offices, the Congo, and a Belgian territory. The novel’s central conflict revolves ar -
D.H. Lawrence's "Sons and Lovers" is published
Sons and Lovers was the first modern portrayal of a phenomenon that later, thanks to Freud, became easily recognizable as the Oedipus complex. Many of the details of the novel’s plot are based on Lawrence’s own life and, unlike his subsequent novels, this one is relatively concise in its descriptions and actions. The story recounts the coming of age of Paul Morel, the second son of Gertrude Morel and her hard-drinking, working class husband, Walter Morel, who made his living as a miner. -
The DublinAbby Theater is founded
The Abbey was founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. It first opened its doors to the public on in 1904.and has remained active to the present day. -
Selma Lagerlof wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
Selma was the first person awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. She was most widely known as her childrens book, The Wonderful Adventures of Nills. Her books are skillful portrayals of Swedish life, using as their subject matter folklore, magic, her family, and the countryside in which she grew up. Selma Lagerlöf ranks among the most naturally gifted of modern storytellers. -
Sigmund Freud visits the US
After receiving an invitation from the President of Clark University, G. Stanley Hall, Freud gave a series of lectures in America on the history of psychoanalysis. -
South African gains Independence
South African gainsed Independence from Britian and the Union of South African is formed. -
Intoduction of Postimpressionism and Cubism
The first modern art exibition in the United States of America, the Armory Show in New Yrok introduced: *Post-impressionism ~ using vivid colours, thick application of paint, distinctive brush strokes, and real-life subject matter; more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and to use unnatural or arbitrary colour.
*Cubism ~ objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form - Can be applied to art, music, literature and architecture. -
First Performance of Rite of Spring
The premiere of Stravinsky's ballet led to one of the most famous classical music riots in history. The intensely rhythmic score and primitive scenario and choreography shocked the audience that was accustomed to the elegant conventions of classical ballet. -
Period: to
War Poetry
The poems reflected the experiences of WW I, often in a disapproving manner.The war poetry has come to sum up the catastrophe, needless waste and destruction of humanity in 20th-century warfare. -
World War I Begins
Austria-Hungary invades Serbia following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand -
Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphisis" is published
The story revolves around a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a monstrous insect-like creature. Due to the fact that Gregor is now unable to work, the story revolves around how the family learns to adapt and deal with this issue. Kafka’s style is simple and matter of factly, the story is told in third persons view which helps keep the story in order. -
Eater Rebellion
Insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic -
Pygmalion is first produced
This play, by Irish playwright GB Shaw, premiered by the Hofburg Theater in Vienna. In the play, Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable speech. The play is a sharp lampoon of the rigid British class system of the day and a comment on women's independence -
James Joyce publishes "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"
The novel chronicles the life of Stephen Dedalus from early childhood to young adulthood and his life-changing decision to leave Ireland, the novel is profoundly autobiographical. -
Russian Revolution
It led to the abdication of Nicholas II, and the end of the Russian Empire. It also marked the beginning if the Russian Civil War -
US Enters WWI
Their addition would heelp bring the war to a close. -
Introduction of Surrealism
Surrealist works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions - Can be applied to art, music, literature and architecture. -
Ireland gains Independence
Part of reland gained independence from the United Kingdom, however soon afer a Civil War broke out. -
Joyce's "Ulysses" is published
Ulysses strives to achieve a kind of realism unlike that of any novel before it by rendering the thoughts and actions of its main characters— both trivial and significant—in a scattered and fragmented form similar to the way thoughts, perceptions, and memories actually appear in our minds. -
W.B. Yeats receives the Nobel Prize in literature
William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, he was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. -
E.M. Forester's "A Passage to India" is Published
The main focus of the novel is posed on the question of whether an Englishman and an Indian can ever be friends. Religion serves as a model of all things united. The English, when controlling the Indians, seem to look down on them in disdain and only uses them for self gain. -
Langston Hughes publishes "The Weary Blues"
The Weary Blues a collection of short poems was Hughes's first book. Music is seen as an obvious focus in the novel, considering the title. Race, suffering, and communication are all popular themes in the novel. Novel takes place during the Harlem Renaissance and describes the suffering of African Americans. -
Virginia Woolf publishes To the Lighthouse
The couple understands that nothing lasts forever, but one relies more on emotions while the other relies on intellet and because of this, they have different approaches to life. Art is seen as a means to preserve what is there in the present. The differences between man and woman are seen in the novel and serves as a focus point of how they c an't be understood fully by the opposite sex. -
US trock Market Crashed
This triggered a worldwide depression. -
Noel Coward's play Private Lives in published
Within the play, there is the need to express one's "public self" and "private self". The play seems to focus on the underlying motives within a person's facade. It describes the intentions that everyone is capable of following through with. -
Aldous Huxley ''Brave New World'' is published
The novel anticipates developming reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of futurism. -
Federico Garcia Lorea's play, Blood Wedding, is published
The color yellow is seen as an important theme throughout the book. Yellow is seen as the color of wealth and vigor. Death plays an important part in the play and is seen as something inevitable. -
Spaniah War Begins
The war began after a declaration of opposition by a group of right-wing generals under the leadership of José Sanjurjo against the Government of the Second Spanish Republic -
Picasso paints Guernica
Th painting was made to protest the German bombing of the Spanish city of Guernica. -
WWII Begins
Germany invades Poland under Hitler's dictatorship. -
George Orwell publishes Animal Farm
Popular themes in Animal Farm include leadership, corruption, lies and deceit. It is a satire of Russian Communism. The evils of capitalism are clearly shown throughout the book. Old Major seems to be Karl Marx himself and represents someone of a kind and caring manner. Napolean is seen as a good leader at first, but then becomes like Stalin and seeks his own interests without regard to the other lower classes. -
World War II Ends
Germany surrendered, and the US dropped Atomic bombs in Japan leading to its surrender. -
Gabriela Mistral is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature
She was the first Latin American to win the Award. Some central themes in her poems are nature, betrayal, love, a mother's love, sorrow and recovery, travel, and Latin American identity as formed from a mixture of Native American and European influences.
