From Horrors to Bliss

WWI was one of the most dramatic moments throughout world history. Uses of trench warfare seemed to be a useless and fearful military tactic as lines of soldier lay next to each other, cramped in small crevasses, while the enemies (Germans) are attempting to annihilate their foes (Americans, French, Britain, Russia, and Italy) with their newly found technological machine, the machine gun. This weapon simply devastated anybody who stands in its way with its rapid firing rate, giving it an advantage to the weapons that constantly needed to be reloaded. Though the war was stalemate, there were still problems growing within the trenches, diseases developed as rodents scurried through the tight spaces, and the decaying of corpses, leaving horrendous images in the minds or soldiers. Many soldiers of the war witnessed their comrades getting torn into pieces from gunfire or mines, seeing them die right in front of their eyes scarred their mentality; eventually leading to PTSD. Meanwhile at their home country, including America, nationalism grew rapidly as propaganda encouraged young minds to fight and die for their country by enlisting in the war.

The battle at Passchendaele. Photo by Adam Hochschild.

Those soldiers who were in the war and began to write their experiences were known as the “Lost Generation”.  An author named Wilfred Owen wrote a poem, Dulce Et Decorum Est (Sweet and Proper), about his experience during the war, giving specific imagery such as, “He comes at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” Giving explicit details about his comrades and other soldier being killed in the line of duty, expressing the emotions he possessed during the time through his poem, giving a fearful and dramatic tone. I personally felt this way reading this, as if I was in the moment Wilfred was in.

Modernism came during the 19^th and early 20^th century, mainly in Europe and North America. It is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse. The Modernist literary movement was driven by the desire to disregard traditional modes of representation and express the new sensibilities of their time. Thinkers such as Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx questioned the rationality of mankind, questioning it and seeing what it does in society.

Gertrude Stein was an American Modernist writer who wrote unusual things, such as the autobiography of her partner, Alice B. Tokas. It’s unusual in that, she wrote about an autobiography, (basically a story about you) about another person. She also collected various Modernist arts and placed it all around her house, which kind of became a museum of Modernist art. Gertrude basically had “hangouts” at her salon, where many famous artists came and mingled. It’s where Picasso and Matisse met, which began their lifelong friendship.

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Gertrude Stein.

Jazz came during the early 20^th century; this type of music was mainly improvised while playing, and was not as well-constructed as classical music. Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer who was one of the first important soloists in jazz. Bachet recorded many works such as “Wild Cat Blues” and “Kansas City Man Blues”.  I found it interesting that Bachet interpreted and played each of his works uniquely and with outstanding creativity, which takes a large amount of work to accomplish. There was more freedom in jazz by allowing each musician  to have solos so that they are basically the “hero” of the song, giving more energy into  it.