20th Century History: WWI to WWII

The Interwar Period (1915-1945)

• World War I occurred from 1914-1918, leading to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917
• The Roaring Twenties in the USA brought prosperity and new technologies, but were followed by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of 1930
• World War II took place from 1939-1945

Modernism

• Modernist writers were disillusioned by World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II
• Common themes in modernist literature include alienation, isolation, individual perception, and human consciousness
• Modernist writers reinvented traditional forms and explored new ways of storytelling

The Lost Generation

• The term "Lost Generation" was coined in the 1920s to describe a group of American expatriates who lived in Paris
• Notable writers from this generation include Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein
• F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" (1925) is a classic of the era

Social Awareness in Literature

• John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" (1939) addressed the Great Depression and the Oklahoma Dust Bowl
• Steinbeck's novel is set during the Great Depression and explores themes of migration and poverty
• Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse" (1785) is a classic work that explores similar themes of hardship and struggle

Southern Literature

• William Faulkner was a notable Southern writer who often set his stories in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County
• Faulkner's novel "Absalom, Absalom!" (1936) is a classic of Southern literature
• The title "Absalom, Absalom!" refers to a story from the Bible (2 Samuel 13-18) about King David's son Absalom