Week
10-12
Modernism
What does The Wasteland mean (Lol)?
1. How has it been interpreted? Use citations. 2. What are some of its key features?
3. In what ways has it been influential??
What does The Wasteland mean (Lol)?
1. How has it been interpreted? Use citations. 2. What are some of its key features?
3. In what ways has it been influential??
The “Wasteland” is a long poem, a modernist
style of literature which is known for fragmented forms. If we date modernism
from poetry it started from1913 when new modern modes of writing started
writing about their experiences and reality. The Wasteland is the most
important poem of 20th century published in 1922 by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
an American poet who lived in England for years (1914). The Wasteland style and
content reflect the literary movement of modernism which breaks the traditional
form of writing and invents new forms. T.S. Eliot’s poem Wasteland was really
affected by World War I and it is a major modernism work, rich beyond
modernism. Wasteland changed the way people saw the world but it is still so
difficult to research The Wasteland because there are many critical analyses and
many critical readers who try and tried to analyse and understand it.
Although Eliot is not the first modernist
poet to write about the war he took the technique of new poem to higher levels.
For example, a fascinating poem by Ford Madox Ford” Antwerp” (1915) was admired
by Eliot himself. Another example is the British female poet called Hope
Mirrlees(1919) who wrote a notable ultra-modern poem, “Paris” which is similar
to Eliot’s poem in the way it starts way. There are so many key features found
in the Wasteland poem but the key features are fragmentation, allusions and
tone e.g. APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land. The
best way to analyse the Wasteland poem is to look at the importance of literary
allusions. Eliot used a huge number of literary, religious and traditional
forms also, he used a method called “mythic method” (imaginary method) which is
a mythic narrative structure. Maybe he got that idea from James Joyce who uses
that method in his novel “Ulysses” which was published in the same year with The
Wasteland (1922). Eliot himself wrote an essay to praise Joyce because of using
ancient myth and borrowed this for his poem e.g. the Fisher King copied from
the Arthurian Legend and other different literary traditions and religions. The
Fisher King myth is very helpful to give clear details about the poem’s imagery
and themes. Eliot was under influence of 19th century French poets Baudelaire’s in his poem
“The Wasteland” and he quoted Baudelaire’s in the ‘ The Burial of the Dead: the
first part of The Wasteland. Also, he learned from French poetry about how
poetry can be ‘free verse’ which means he doesn’t have to confirm to a strict
rhyme scheme or metre. As a result of that Eliot used free verse in the
finishing part of The Wasteland such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,
Preludes and Rhapsody on a Windy Night which all shows Eliot cityscapes and the
urban scene inside his work. Obviously, Eliot’s work reflected certain
impersonality in his poem which means not being influenced by his personal
feeling.
He has been influential in turning reality
into myth such as APRIL powerful cruel.
Reference:
A Very Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, (n.d.). Retrieved from https://interestingliterature.com/2016/10/06/a-very-short-analysis-of-t-s-eliots-the-waste-land/
A Very Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, (n.d.). Retrieved from https://interestingliterature.com/2016/10/06/a-very-short-analysis-of-t-s-eliots-the-waste-land/
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ReplyDeleteGreat Post! I like how you understand and how valid and true on what you think. If you go to my post i have mentioned The Great Gasby an example which I found when researching for this question. Jay Gatsby was imagery shown in a ruined tower. We see the prince in the novel starts with having great plans for his future but comes home with nothing at the end (Willms, 2018, para 4). The novel was influenced by T.S. Eliot's poem because it shows key features about "Hopelessness and disenchantment" ( Willms, 2018, para 1) as to where Jay gives up on his dreams and ambitions. Maybe we have the same opinion and maybe not but that fun will it be to see our assumptions
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