Eng426 20th century english literature

Self-Assessment Exercise

Identify and discuss four postmodernist techniques

4.0 CONCLUSION

Postmodernism to a large extent revisits and revises the techniques of the traditional or Victorian way of writing and that of the modernists. In a way it solved the problems of the traditional literature as well as the modernists’ problem of stifling life and entertainment out of literature. It could be difficult at times to differentiate between a modernist work and a postmodern writing especially the novel as they have a lot in common but the major difference between the two is the fact modernists shock the reader with the gloomy and sad situation of life with the gloomy settings, alienated characters, difficult diction, fragmented and disjointed plot and so on while postmodernists are playful about these facts, they celebrate the nonsense they perceive life to be and are more entertaining than modernist writings.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this Unit, the concerns and themes of postmodernists as well as their techniques were discussed in a bid to make it easy for you to differentiate between a modernist and postmodernist writing.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Examine three salient differences between modernist and postmodernist writings

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Barth, J. (1996). “The literature of replenishment” In Essentials of the Theory of Fiction, eds Michael J. Hoffman and Patrick D. Murphy, 2nd edition. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 283.
Matz, J. (2004). The Modern Novel: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

MODULE 2: MODERNIST AND POSTMODERNIST NOVELS

Module 2: The Novel in the Twentieth Century English Literature
Unit 1: Virginia Woolf: A Woman at the Fore Unit 2: D.H Lawrence and Vitality
Unit 3: Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Unit 4: Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of The Day. UNIT 1: Virginia Woolf: A Woman to the Fore Content
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives

0. 
   Main Content
   
1. 
   Virginia Woolf
   
2. 
   Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway
   
3. 
   Modernist Features in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway
   
4. 
   Modernist Themes in Mrs Dalloway
   

4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-marked Assignment
7.0 References/ Further Reading