The Changes in Western Century Introspection: Fiction and Visual Arts - Essay Example

Introspection is defined as “the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious mental and usually purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul. It can also be called contemplation of one's self, and is contrasted with extrospection, the observation of things external to one's self” (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). The 20th century conflict brought about consciousness of the harsh reality on the Westerners. The hope in war as a solution banished when they see the damages and pains that it caused. This was reflected in many art forms where the expression of hopelessness and internal and external chaos was evident. It has then aroused the consciousness of many to fight for freedom and liberation, thus the world witnessed the revolution of the Blacks and the movement for gender equality. The revelation of harsh reality by the 20th century conflict has brought despair to the Western countries, but it has also aroused their courage and unity so as to bring about necessary changes in the society. These changes comprise equal rights and freedom. The changes in Western Century introspection were revealed in many art forms such as literature, poetry, fiction and visual arts. Hopelessness and Harsh Reality Below are the proofs of the changes in Western Introspection brought about by the 20th century conflicts. The Novels The war has brought forth famous novelists such as Ernest Hemingway and Erich Maria Remarque. Hemingway’s novel conveys the desperate hope that World War I would be the war that ends all wars. Thus, its tenets are bound to disillusionment and are proofs of the futility of armed combat, (51). Another novelist expressed the same sentiments over the war. Erich Maria Remarque’s book All Quiet On The Western Front “portrays with horrifying clarity the brutal realities of trench warfare and poison gas, two of the most chilling features of the war”, (51). Totalitarianism It was during the 20th century that totalitarianism also blossomed, particularly in Soviet Union under Stalin’s leadership. “Until Stalin’s death in 1953, a reign of terror prevailed in the Soviet Union. As many found out, the slightest deviation from orthodox Marxist-Stalinist decorum resulted in imprisonment, slave labor, or execution. Between 1929 and 1953 some 18 million people were sent to prison camps and another six million were exiled to remote parts of Soviet Union”, (64). Totalitarianism wasn’t only observed in Soviet Union, as countries in Europe also ha d a piece of the iron rule of Hitler. Like Stalin, Hitelr, wielded unlimited and often ruthless authority. He destroyed democratic institutions in Germany, condemned avant-garde art , modern architecture, atonal music and jazz as ‘degenerate’, attacked Einstein theories as ‘Jewish physics’ and proceeded to eliminate-by means of Gestapo (the Nazi secret police) – all opposition to his program of mass conformity”,(64). The most horrifying of these episodes of torture by was the Holocaust wherein 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews were put to death in Nazi gas chambers. Visual Art The realities of the World Wars were recorded through photos. “French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson immortalized the plight of war-torn Europe in hundreds of aesthetically compelling social realist photographs”, (65). “In the Soviet Union, photography came under the totalitarian knife, as Stalin’s propagandists carefully excised from official photographs unseemly images of political brutality”, (65). One of the most popular of these visual arts is Picasso’s Guernica. It is a mural painting inspired by the incident of bombing at Guernica, a market town in Spain. It became one of the most memorable anti-war images. Philosophy The western philosophy has also been greatly influenced by the 20th century conflicts. One particular example of this is Sartre’s classic work, “Being and Nothingness”. His active participation in the French Resistance to the German occupation in France, “influenced his personal quest for meaning and identity in a universe that he perceived as devoid of moral absolutes”,(70). Sartre’s philosophy is that existence precedes essence. He also proposed that “human beings have no fix nature. They are not imbued with any special divinity nor are they (by nature) rational”, (70). Christian Existentialism The 20th century conflicts did not only bring about changes in man’s philosophy, it has also brought changes in man’s spiritual view. Particularly, it touched the aspect of religion and belief on the Supreme Being. “Christian existentialists saw little contradiction between the belief in a Supreme Being and the ethics of human freedom and responsibility. They held that religious philosophy need not concern itself with the proof or disproof of God’s existence; rather it should focus on the moral life of the individual”, (72). “Among the Christian theologians, a similar concern for the moral life of the individual moved religion out of the seminaries and into the streets”,(72). Literature The literature was also influenced by Sartre’s philosophy. Particularly, his philosophy “inspired a new kind of literary hero: a hero who, deprived of traditional values and religious beliefs, bears the burden of freedom and the total responsibility for his actions. The existential hero-or, more exactly, antihero-takes up the quest for meaning; alienated by nature and circumstance, he makes choice in a world lacking moral absolutes, a world in which no act might be called ‘good’ unless it is chosen in conscious preference to its alternatives”, (72). The changes in arts, philosophy, religion and even political structures are responses to eh 20th century conflict. Some countries like the Soviet Union, in a desire to maintain its power has resorted to communism. The arts have been channels in expressing resistance to wars as depicted in novels and murals. While the philosophy and religion were greatly influenced by the sad reality of pain that man can inflict to himself. Liberation and Equality If the wars have brought resistance through arts and changes in philosophies, it has also brought about notable breakthroughs in the society-liberation and equality. “While the mood of despair pervaded much of the postwar era, a second, more positive spirit fueled movements for liberation in many parts of the world. Movements to reform conditions of oppression and injustice ranged from anticolonial drives for independence from foreign control to crusades for racial and gender equality. The drive toward liberation, one of the most potent themes of the twentieth century, inspired many of its most significant works of art”, (93). Racial Equality “The most turbulent liberation movement of the twentieth century addressed the issue of racial equality-an issue so dramatically reflected in the African-American experience that some observers have dubbed the century ‘The Race Era’, (94). This obvious inequality between the White and the Black Americans gave birth to the Civil Rights Movements. The racial discrimination was manifested in inferior education, restricted jobs, ghetto housing and generally low living standards. “Civil Rights leaders of the 1950’s demanded enforcement of all provisions for the equality promised in the Unites States Constitution”, (99). One of the prominent leaders of the Civil Rights Movement was Martin Luther King Jr. and it was his Letter from Birmingham Jail that spurred the urgency of their call. Literature played a noteworthy role in the quest for equality of the Blacks. Two luminaries of the black protest literature were James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison. Gender Equality The 20th century conflict has also brought about resistance on the dominant view of women. Specifically, the 20th century has spurred the quest for gender equality. “Though female inequality has been a fact of history, it was not until the twentieth century that the quest for female liberation took the form of an international movement”, (109). One of the notable proponents of equal social, political and economic rights between men and women was Christine de Pisan. “Christine had sporadic followers among Renaissance and Enlightenment humanists”, (109). Another advocate of the feminist movement was novelist Virginia Woolf, who “argued that equal opportunity for education and economic advantage were even more important than the right to vote”, (110). Globalism One of the effects of the 20th century which is far-reaching is globalism. This is centered on the interdependence of cultures and people everywhere on earth. This is the new paradigm which continues to dominate the world today. This has also faced the greatest struggle as many cultures failed to adapt to this changes. Although the 20th century wars brought despair, it nevertheless opened the eyes of the society to the importance of freedom and equality. It has therefore brought changes in the Western introspection and also in the entire world. Read More