Modernism as an Art

Taking Fiction Workshop last semester we reviewed a variety of different points of view from which a narrative can be written. This "stream of consciousness" as the distance from which a point of view can be stated introduced by Modernism is something we did not review. I can appreciate the artistic motivation during this Modernism period to record all thoughts, actions and occurrences as one complete entity, however, confusing it may be. I am intrigued that everything experienced in a twenty four hour period can be expressed through literature exactly how it occurs and is experienced. I can understand how such an enterprise would fill an entire book with only the contents of one day because the human mind covers so much both consciously and unconsciously. I feel that because of this the interior monologues contribute so much more to characterization than anything else in the stimuli of the novel's drama or outside forces to the character. As for the poetic movements of Modernism I am unsure of what I think. After the analysis of Gertrude Stein's "Tender Buttons" by Mr. Andrews I understood to a greater extent what Stein wished to convey, though I am still confused as to how she achieved that and the order of words. It really was like a word painting and set in such a style that it was rhetorical for the reader in the sense of interpretation. The arts movement of Faulkner’s time with the painterly visual works definitely contribute to the artistic literature as a whole movement of Modernism. I appreciated the Portrait of a German Officer that Mr. Andrews showed on his slideshow. It was an ingenious type of art especially for people of that time period suspected to be homosexual. The painting although an allusion to the painter’s love was anonymous and could not induce any verdict as to his orientation.