Section outline

  • This unit focuses on the Modern Age, a period of rapid change and experimentation in English literature, driven by the dramatic shifts in society, technology, and global politics during the 20th century and beyond. The two World Wars, industrialization, and the rise of psychology and existentialism deeply influenced Modernist writers, leading them to challenge traditional narrative forms, explore fragmented identities, and depict the alienation of individuals in an increasingly complex world.

    Key figures such as T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, W.B. Yeats, and D.H. Lawrence will be studied, with an emphasis on their contributions to modernist techniques such as stream of consciousness, fragmentation, and symbolism. Central works like Eliot’s The Waste Land and Joyce’s Ulysses will be analyzed for their use of myth, experimentation with language, and exploration of urban and inner life. Woolf’s novels will provide insight into feminist modernism and psychological realism, while Yeats’ poetry captures the transition from romantic mysticism to a more philosophical engagement with modernity.

    The unit also introduces postmodernism, examining the works of Samuel Beckett, George Orwell, Salman Rushdie, and Zadie Smith, who respond to the fragmentation of identity, reality, and culture in a globalized world. Themes such as the questioning of truth, narrative, and history, along with multiculturalism and the impacts of colonialism, will be central to discussions on contemporary literature.

    Core texts include:

    • T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922)
    • James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922)
    • Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925) or To the Lighthouse (1927)
    • W.B. Yeats’ later poems, including The Second Coming and Sailing to Byzantium
    • Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1953)
    • George Orwell’s 1984 (1949)
    • Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (1981)

    This unit will also explore literary responses to technological advancement, the decline of religious belief, and the post-World War disillusionment that gave rise to both modernist and postmodernist sensibilities. Students will critically engage with how writers depict fractured realities and shifting identities in an age of uncertainty.