What’s Modern Lit?

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Modern literature covers the 20th and 21st centuries and includes novels, poetry, and non-fiction articles. The exact boundaries of the modern age vary by country. Modernism is a branch of modern literature that sought to move away from realist novels. It led to postmodernism, structuralism, and postcolonialism. The number of books, magazines, newspapers, and online literature has multiplied during modern times. Modern literature has also seen an increase in awards and translations.

Modern literature is written in the contemporary period. When modern literature began is difficult to pin down and varies from country to country, but it covers at least the 20th and 21st centuries. Literature covers all written works, including letters and magazines, but is best known for novels, poetry, and non-fiction articles featured in magazines and newspapers. It should not be confused with modernist literature, even though the two groups are contemporary.

It is difficult to establish the exact boundaries of the modern age of literature. As with the definition of any era, such delineations are full of overlaps and differences between regions and cultures. In Britain, the modern era began in 1901 with the end of the Victorian era and Victorian literature. In Japan, the modern era could be traced back to the Meiji Restoration in 1860, but after 1945 it may be more realistic. Others might view Victorian literature as a subdivision of modern literature and would instead date the modern period back to the 1700s.

In America, a different era would mark the beginning of modern literature. The breaking point may be the advent of modernism around 1900. Steven Byrd of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke argues that “while earlier American literary periods were best defined by certain stylistic conventions or popular schools of thought, the modern American literature is best defined by the traditions it has broken”.

Modernism is a branch of modern literature that has sought to move away from the realist novels that dominated the Victorian era. The movement reached its peak between 1900 and 1920. Modernist luminaries include TS Eliot, Franz Kafka, James Joyce and Ezra Pound. The movement showed a disregard for convention and other forms; this led to fascist flirting and rampant narcissism. It has also led to some works such as Joyce’s “Ulysses” being inaccessible to many readers.

The poem further broke convention as a part of modern era literature. He has also embraced music to form jazz and blues poetry. One of the largest modern poetry movements in America was the beat generation of Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg. Ezra Pound was also a leading proponent of ending poetic conventions and said “make it new”.

Modernism led to postmodernism, structuralism to poststructuralism, and colonialism to postcolonialism. The various types of literature have built and diversified with respect to previous types of literature. Many new countries, often artificial constructs, have tried to forge a new identity through the promotion of the literature of the modern era.
The number of books, magazines, newspapers and magazines has multiplied during the modern times. This included, towards the end of the 20th century, its explosion online. This has given way to new forms of literature and new means of sharing it. Modern literature has also seen an increase in awards and translations such as reading Japanese works from Haruki Murakami to Ryunosuke Akutagawa to Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk.




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