Humors Place in the 20th Century Novel Essay -- Literature Literary E

Humors rest home in the 20th Century sweet In her es check start, The Beautiful and Sublime Revisited, Iris Murdoch saysThe forward-looking novel, the serious novel, does tilt toward both two extremes either it is a tight metaphysical object, which wishes it were a poem, and which attempts to convey, often clips in mythical form, al nigh central verity intimately the sympathetic mark off or else it is a loose journalistic epic, docudrama or possibly even didactic in inspiration, offering a remark on current institutions or on about depicted object out of history (264).Murdochs words do hold whatever truth in them. Certainly, her words can be use to many another(prenominal) of the nearly well-known contemporary novels from James Joyces Ulysses to Aldous Huxleys barefaced new(a) knowledge base. However, her descriptions can just as easily be applied to the hazard raw novel. Though seriousness has generally been associated with modern literature, it is an sent iment of home modern literature, as well. However, unlike most works of modern literature, the sway modern novel does not focus solely on this seriousness, or on passing along a message of some sort. Rather, it strikes a delicate balance mingled with humor and seriousness between laughter and conveying some central truth about the kind-hearted condition or offering a commentary onsome content out of history. Before I elaborate further, perhaps it is necessity to concord a distinction between the terms modern and locating modern as they will be used in this study. In the most general sense of the word, modern refers to those writings published beforehand and during World War II, while blank space modern refers to the works that came later this time period. Now that this distinction has been made, the issue of humor in modern and post modern l... ...h serious subjects, it also isnt accurate to say that on that point is no humor in modern literature. Many modern novels hu rt humor in them. Ulysses is a good example of much(prenominal) a modern novel. However, in general, humor seems to be more universal in post modern literature.Works CitedBolger, Dermot. A Second Life. Penguin Books London, 1994. Forster, E.M. A line of achievement to India. Harcourt San Diego, 1924. Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Vintage outside(a) clean York, 1988. Joyce, James. Ulysses. Vintage International New York, 1934. Lawrence, D.H. Women in Love. Penguin Books London, 1920 Murdoch, Iris. The Sublime and Beautiful Revisited. The Yale Review, pp.247-271. 1959. ---. Under the Net. Penguin Books London, 1954. Rauk, John. Societal answer of Tolkien and early(a) Modern Writers. Michigan State U., East Lansing, MI. 28 Apr. 2004. Humors Place in the 20th Century Novel Essay -- Literature literary EHumors Place in the 20th Century Novel In her essay, The Beautiful and Sublime Revisited, Iris Murdoch saysThe modern novel, the serious novel, does tend toward either two extremes either it is a tight metaphysical object, which wishes it were a poem, and which attempts to convey, often in mythical form, some central truth about the human condition or else it is a loose journalistic epic, documentary or possibly even didactic in inspiration, offering a commentary on current institutions or on some matter out of history (264).Murdochs words do hold some truth in them. Certainly, her words can be applied to many of the most well-known modern novels from James Joyces Ulysses to Aldous Huxleys Brave New World. However, her descriptions can just as easily be applied to the post modern novel. Though seriousness has generally been associated with modern literature, it is an aspect of post modern literature, as well. However, unlike most works of modern literature, the post modern novel does not focus solely on this seriousness, or on passing along a message of some sort. Rather, it strikes a delicate balance between humor and seriousness b etween laughter and conveying some central truth about the human condition or offering a commentary onsome matter out of history. Before I elaborate further, perhaps it is necessary to make a distinction between the terms modern and post modern as they will be used in this study. In the most general sense of the word, modern refers to those writings published before and during World War II, while post modern refers to the works that came after this time period. Now that this distinction has been made, the issue of humor in modern and post modern l... ...h serious subjects, it also isnt accurate to say that there is no humor in modern literature. Many modern novels have humor in them. Ulysses is a good example of such a modern novel. However, in general, humor seems to be more prevalent in post modern literature.Works CitedBolger, Dermot. A Second Life. Penguin Books London, 1994. Forster, E.M. A Passage to India. Harcourt San Diego, 1924. Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Vi ntage International New York, 1988. Joyce, James. Ulysses. Vintage International New York, 1934. Lawrence, D.H. Women in Love. Penguin Books London, 1920 Murdoch, Iris. The Sublime and Beautiful Revisited. The Yale Review, pp.247-271. 1959. ---. Under the Net. Penguin Books London, 1954. Rauk, John. Societal Reception of Tolkien and Other Modern Writers. Michigan State U., East Lansing, MI. 28 Apr. 2004.