20th Century Literary Contributions

The twentieth century and its literary contributions set milestones in what we are accustomed to in today's literature. The turn of the century saw much new advancement in technological fields, intellect, and social situations. With the inventions of mass communication medium, society and its mindset began to evolve into a more complex and intricate state. No longer were the styles and forms of seventeenth century authors going to keep the literary audiences complacent.

A major change that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century was the wide spread and acquisition of education by all classes. No longer were only the elite and upper echelon of society intellectually equipped to appreciate and interpret works of literature, but the masses were now able to grasp and enjoy it too. The Education Act in 1870 began regulating public education (Greenblatt 2293), and led to a new generation of literate citizens, which by the turn on the century could and would contribute to the changes in the style, language, and form of literature. These changes in education led to the widespread of literature and also new styles and genres because of the new found diversity in the mass audience.

Another major change that came with the turn of the century was the new technological advances. From the Wright Brothers' plane in 1903 to the first mass produced automobile in 1913, the way in which people could travel and share cultures and ideas was becoming easier and more efficient (Greenblatt 2295). Then came along advancements in mass communication with the radio and television, which prompted society's mind to begin to change and crave more diversity in the information it took in. Thus, writings had to adapt to society's changes in order for it to compete with the fast changes of the world and technological advancements in which society was receiving its information and communication.

Furthermore with the new reforms to education, women were fighting for their own rights. The position of women began to change during the twentieth century. Women were gaining the rights to vote and many universities were admitting females into their student bodies (Greenblatt 2296), thus intellectually empowered women were given the opportunities to contribute to society as a whole not just in the domestic home anymore. Along with women gaining rights in society the way women were portrayed in literature changed significantly during this period (Greenblatt 2296).

Also Britain's political and empirical powers began to shift during the twentieth century. Britain controlled nearly a quarter of the world's population as colonies (Greenblatt 2296). But as people become more and more knowledgeable and mentally independent, liberty and freedom follow. Many of the British Empire's colonies gained their independence at the beginning of the century, but from this diversity arose in English literature. As Greenblatt explains, "The twentieth century witnessed the emergence of internationally acclaimed literary voices from these dominions, from the early-century New Zealander Katherine Mansfields to the late-century Australian Les Murray and Canadians Alice Munro and Anne Carson" (Greenblatt 2297). Also upheaval in Ireland led to the works of such authors as Yeats and Joyce. The struggle for Ireland's independence form the British crown was caused by a new sense of nationalism that is stressed throughout the works of James Joyce (Greenblatt 2297).

The beginning of World War I and the new forms of fighting and the unprecedented and unimaginable casualties

felt aided to the political and social collapse of the British crown (Greenblatt 2296). Before the war the social structure was one which was titled "Victorian- country houses with numerous servants, a flourishing and confident middle class, a strict hierarchy of social classes" (Greenblatt 2296), but with introduction of the war, society and politics no longer had its traditional structure. Furthermore the depression of the late 1920s caused stress on the political structure of Britain with job loss and economical downfall. When Hitler came to power and the entry into World War II, Britain's politics and policies once again aided to new literary outcry and social unrest as the masses spoke out against the government (Greenblatt 2297).

With all the changes in society, technology, and intelligence, the literature had to change. Authors such as Joyce and Woofe saw this and began to form new ways of fiction (Greenblatt 2296). But not only was fiction changed, but poetry at the beginning of the 1900's saw a new revolution. The poetic language was changing from complex to everyday conversation like with the use of even slang words that the mass audience could adhere to (Greenblatt 2300). Also many modernist poets began using more figurative language in their poems as Greenblatt explains, "Irony, which made possible several levels of simultaneously, and wit, whit the use of puns (banished from serious poetry for more than two hundred years), helped achieve that union of thought and passion that [T.S.] Eliot, in his review of [Herbert] Grierson's anthology of Metaphysical poetry" (Greenblatt 2300). The Metaphysical that is discussed here is the nature of being and reality. No longer were poets writing mainly on love and in sonnet form or about religion or nature, poets were questioning their existence in abstract ways and returning to the ways of seventh century Metaphysical poetry (Greenblattt 2300). During this time period many authors formed new ideas and ways to construct poetry. As did Gerard Manley Hopkins who "combined precision of the individual image with a complex ordering of images and a new kind of metrical patterning he named 'sprung rhythm', in which the stresses of a line could be more freely distributed" (Greenblatt 2301). Furthermore the tone of Auden's coolly clinical tone dominated poetry of this era. This developed from the second generation of poets who came after great poets such as Yeats and Eliot and began writing poems more low pitched and ironic than those of the first generation modernists (Greenblatt 2301).

As mentioned before, Joyce and Woolfe were at the forefront of new literary fiction (Greenblatt 2296). What is appealing about fictional novels is they can do whatever the author wants them to do. In this form of literature, it defies the limits of construction that many of forms of literature had during this time period. There was no status quo in novels and the flexibility that came along with fiction gave writers the platform to capture and discuss the events of the time which was mass communication and globalization and war torn nations (Greenblatt 2304). The novels of the twentieth century can