The Feminist Aesthetics of Virginia Woolf: Modernism, Post-Impressionism, and the Politics of the Visual Essay

contemporaneityIntroduction modernity elicit entail three convertible meanings. Firstly, modernism can mean novelty or innovation, necessitateing something that contrast the elder and hence shake off across a certain conviction in progress. Secondly, various explicit meaning refers to the modern episode silent, from philosophical thought, as colligate to rationality, critical thinking and the era since the 18th snow, which started to set off flat coat as an approach of objective examination of realism that is strongly linked with empiricism in philosophy. Thirdly, modernism is linked with definite tendency in arts starting in the late 19th degree centigrade that highlight psychology, inborn experience and non-mimetic, ridiculous replica of creation as revea take in the calculates of trims of most European and American authors, and the works of avant-garde among other poetic tendencies. In contrast of comportmodernism view of the knowledge domain, modernism par ticularly of the early 20th century and after the First World War, struggled to picture a literary work in regard to chaotic dapple World War I realism, but to a fault as a whole, though fragmented, resulting to a transcendental champion. Modernism was likewise a answer to ruleal realistic representation techniques that seek to mimic worldly concern modernist literary works put weight on skewed experience kinda of a conviction in likelihood of a literary work to put across the objective connotation and reality (Caughie, 2007.pp 23). Modernism was excited by a brisk era of large scale production, new era of industrialism, especially in the USA and Great Britain, technological changes as well as socio-historical proceedings and atmo compass of the era. Changes in the socio-economic and industrial building called for new perception of the world. Scientific interventions and industrial production have steamy technological progress and the increased alienation in the rapidl y ontogeny urban surroundings. However, scientific changes and industrial production have also led to skepticism linked with the abuse of technologies for genocide during the World War I. Although, modernism is usually fragmented and experimental, arts and literary works provided an aesthetic and delicate knowledge as a substitute to the depressive and chaotic reality (Caughie, 1991.pp 18). In contrast to realistic literary works which emphasize on mimetic rule of imitation of reality that is the literature that revealed the world as cognizable, imitable and knowable via language, reason and experience, the modernist literature presented a incredulous representation on such(prenominal)(prenominal) a vision of reality and the capability of literature to provide a truthful, objective and objective portrait of reality. Modernist literature emphasized on mind, psychology, ingrained experience and privileged tone of characters instead of describing the class struggle, external, ou ter and kind reality. Modernist literature was connected not and to universal skepticism of the post World War I era, but also with growing disbelieve of philosophers, scientists, scholars and artists in the capacity of reason to grasp, comprehend and elucidate reality. According to aesthetic and philosophical perspective, modern literature highlights postmodernist ontological and epistemological aspects. Friedrich Nietzsche contributed a lot in literature where he theorized mans willing to unreliability and power of language to represent the world. Ludwig Wittgenstein dealt with philosophy of language and the unheralded meaning it produces via the language games, and Sigmund Freud understood human being as irrational rather rational being driven by sexual desires, unconscious(p) forces and suppressed dreams. Martin Heidegger is another significant philosopher who has influenced not only modernist, but also postmodernist thinking, especially in relation to the language and the representation of reality through it. Heidegger acknowledged language as a defective average of referring to realism and highlighted its authority to generate unforeseen and unrestrained meanings. Anton Pokrivcak gives a compact of the discrepancy amidst postmodernism and modernism as follows The shift from modernism to postmodernism is understood as the shift within ontology from determinacy to indeterminacy of being, from transcendence to immanence, from symbol to allegory, from the world of ideology to the world of play (Pokrivcak 199839), and this shift, in his view, can be also characterized as the substitution of a semantic way of making sense for a semiotic one. In their literature, modernist fiction writers of 20th century such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf maintained the ideas and subjectivized human experience and highlighted on inner subjective experience as mostly expressed by first someone narrator and stream-of-consciousness narrative method, a term overtaken from mental theories of William James. Modernist writers thus subjectivized knowledge and, in their literary works, brought forward the suggestion that the orchis cannot be impartially known only instinctively perceived by human brain. Subjectivity manifested typically itself, as it was highlighted above, in the first person narrative and the use of the stream-of-consciousness narrative technique bringing forth the subjective view of reality by human brain. In modernist fictional works, bemused reality revealed itself in authors utilization of fragmentary composition, non-chronological and in a limning of the relations between the characters. The use of non-linear, non-chronological time and fragmentary composition envisioned a latest responsiveness of the chaotic world and the estrangement as a result of new era and life in the cities. aberration reveals itself in the characters association to work, ball club, the city and other characters that can at cobblers last lead to t he emotions of nihilism. Moreover, alienation is intimately associated to uncertainty which reveals itself in the characters attitudes to the people. Modernist literature is regularly parodic and ironic. Parody and Irony argon used as a graphic symbol critique both of rational or idealistic literary convention and of the world. Modernist writers habitually utilize ancient mythology that are altered and recontextualized in a late context and therefore they become recent myths associated to modernist cultural knowledge. Virginia Woolf, an incline modernist writer, provides that In or about December, 1910, human character changed. The two statements meant a conviction that the community and its responsiveness had altered in 20th century and, simultaneously, a conviction in the likelihood of fresh types of arts, which would mirror a new scientific progress, awareness but also cynicism and turmoil of the recent age. Modernist literature incorporated the procedures of innovative techn ologies, social media among other types of art to put across this responsiveness of an innovative period. Viginia Woolf contribured immensely to postmodernism through her real error work Literature in quest and quest of itself. Woolf raised various questions since her literal works emphasized on social contexts and narrative strategies. Viginia Woolf was regarded as an simulation of a high modernist aesthetics in early 1970s. However, Woolfs literal works continue to receive major criticism who considers her as an modeling of a womens liberationist writing practice. Virginia Woolf literal works not only emphasized on feminist politics and modernist aesthetics, but it also took stinging interest in the status and nature of the fiction itself. Virginia Woolf is famous for capacious achievement in regard to the modern novel and her exceptional flair of writing in highlighting major issues especially in feminist writing. In the novels, To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dolloway, Woolf ev aluate the relations, both profound and superficial and how they are applied to the greater epistemological questions of being and life. Woolf put a quietus to the significance of individual self and the communication of individual self with coadjutor human beings through representation of a set of often ambiguously interrelated characters. Woolf has skillfully succeeded to provide the leader with subversive keys to her view of life and its meaning. Woolf vision of life and its meaning balances the crucial character of individual and relative exploration and dependence (Goldman, 1998.pp 92). Woolf was interested in revealing the connection between future, past and life. Woolf literal works was aimed at explaining how humanitys eventual(prenominal) purpose prevails in an ambiguous balance between ourselves and others in the sphere of social and intellectual achievement. Postmodern literal work is a member of historical and socio-cultural development and can be seen as a small m anner of a portrayal of the postmodern life and culture. It shows a crisis of identity of human being and its struggle for legitimization in a hypocritical society (Rosenberg, 2000.pp 59). Virginia Woolf literal works help the leader to understand the connection between modernism and epistemological quest for meaning. According to aesthetic and philosophical perspective modernist literature emphasize on postmodernist ontological and epistemological aspects. In conclusion, modernism can imply three similar meanings. First, modernism can mean novelty or innovation. Modernism can also imply modern period based on the association between reality and empiricism of philosophy. Last, modernism can be associated with arts. Modernism is different from postmodernism because it attempted to bring out literary work based on reality though in a fragmented approach, thus creating transcendental meaning. Modernism was stimulated by new large scale production and industrialism in USA and Great Bri tain. Though fragmented, literary arts and works provided an aesthetic and artistic experience as an option to the depressive and chaotic reality. Modernist works such as that of Virginia Woolf revealed a skeptical view on such a vision of reality and the ability of a literary work to cracking a truthful, objective representation of reality. Modernist literature emphasized on subjective, inner life, mind and psychology of characters instead of focusing on class conflict and social reality. Virginia Woolf was famous for her great contribution in modernist literature, though she faces a lot of criticism from various authors who believe her work was only from feminism politics and theory of postmodernism.ReferencesCaughie, PamelaL. Postmodern and Poststructuralist Approaches to Virginia Woolf.(2007) Print.Caughie, PamelaL. Virginia Woolf & Postmodernism Literature in Quest & scruple of Itself.(1991) Print.Colonial Anxiety and Primitivism in Modernist Fiction Woolf, Freud, Forster, S tein. N.p.,n.d.. Print.Da, Silva N. T. Modernism and Virginia Woolf. Windsor Windsor Publications,1990. Print.Goldman, Jane. The Feminist Aesthetics of Virginia Woolf Modernism, Post-Impressionism, and the Politics of the Visual. Cambridge Cambridge UP,1998. Print.Goldman, Jane. 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