Briefing Document: Progress and Regress in Twentieth-Century English Literature

Briefing Document: Progress and Regress in Twentieth-Century English Literature

This blog written as a lab activity task assigned by the Head of the Department of English (MKBU), Prof. and Dr. Dilip Barad Sir. Here is the link to the professor's video for background reading: Click Here

Here is the Mind Map of Twentieth-Century English Literature and Society: A Synthesis of Progress and Regress: Click Here

Reading material of The Setting Twentieth Century English Literature - A. C. Ward: Click Here

Worksheet Lab Activity Modernist Literature DH: Click Here

This Infograph shows a brief concise structure of the text:

Executive Summary:

This document synthesizes an analysis of twentieth-century English literature and society, framing the period as a profound paradox of unprecedented material progress and a simultaneous, unprecedented moral and spiritual relapse. The central argument posits that the Scientific Revolution, while granting humanity immense physical power, also dismantled the cultural and ethical certainties of the preceding Victorian era, creating a spiritual vacuum. The early century was defined by a vigorous revolt against Victorian stability, faith, and acceptance of authority, championed by figures like Bernard Shaw who advocated for relentless questioning. This revolt bifurcated English intellectual life into two main streams: the socio-politically motivated "art for life's sake" creed of the Fabian Socialists and the aesthetic "art for art's sake" principle revived by the Bloomsbury Group.

A critical turning point occurred in 1922 with the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses and T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. These works marked a retreat of literature into an "esoteric fastness," creating a schism between an intellectually elitist avant-garde and the "common reader." This trend was accompanied by a rise in academic criticism that, in its contempt for normal intelligence, often became a self-perpetuating exercise detached from life. The cultural landscape was further shaped by the trauma of two World Wars, the rise of the Welfare State—which brought affluence but also unforeseen discontent and consumerism—and a pervasive "revolt of youth" that challenged all forms of traditional authority. The period saw a decline in craftsmanship, a rise of psychological introspection that pathologized normalcy, and the degradation of potent literary forms like satire into witless ridicule.

The Central Paradox: Material Progress vs. Spiritual Regress

The first fifty years of the twentieth century were marked by a series of upheavals more remarkable than those of "perhaps fifty generations in the past." This era is defined by a core contradiction: man's accelerating mastery over the physical world was accompanied by a significant moral and spiritual decline. Both progress and regress are identified as fruits of the Scientific Revolution.

• Technological Duality: The internal combustion engine enabled both mass mobility via the motor car and mass slaughter via the aeroplane. Nuclear power presented the dual possibilities of universal destruction and global protection through mutual fear.

• Social Disruption: Increased mobility, particularly for the young, allowed them to travel far from home and "exude natural parental guidance and control."

• The Revolt of Youth: This is considered one of the most notable revolutions within the broader Scientific Revolution, with its potential for mass manipulation demonstrated by movements like the Hitler Youth. In Britain, it marked a shift from the tradition of students studying to students agitating.

The Revolt Against Victorianism:

A defining characteristic of the early twentieth century was the comprehensive rejection of the values that defined the Victorian age. The generation following Queen Victoria looked back on the period as "dull and hypocritical," with its ideals appearing "mean and superficial and stupid."

Victorian Characteristic	Early Twentieth-Century Counterpart
Acceptance of Authority: Willing submission to the "rule of the Expert" in religion, politics, family life, and literature.	Interrogative Habit of Mind: A restless desire to probe and question. Shaw's watchwords were "Question! Examine! Test!"
Belief in Permanence: A firm conviction that institutions like the home, the constitution, the Empire, and the Christian religion were "unshakable" and "established in perpetuity."	Sense of Universal Mutability: An understanding of the "flow of things." H.G. Wells described the world as "the mere sight of a home. On which we camped."
Second-Hand Conviction: A spirit of acceptance and affirmation, often without critical examination. Faith and morality seemed to lack a "core of personally realised conviction."	Demand for Personal Examination: The belief that every dogma is a superstition until "personally examined and consciously accepted by the individual believer."
Striving for Order and Dignity: A consciousness of dignity and a societal emphasis on order and stability.	Creation of a Spiritual Vacuum: The revolt from Victorianism, for the multitude, resulted in a spiritual void rather than a new, coherent worldview

This revolt was prefigured by late-Victorian writers like Meredith, Hardy, and Samuel Butler, but was forcefully articulated by figures like Bernard Shaw. His character Andrew Undershaft's declaration in Major Barbara served as a "trumpet call" for a new generation: "It scraps its obsolete steam engines and dynamos; but it won't scrap its old prejudices and its old moralities and its old religions and its old political constitutions." For many, this challenge was invigorating; for others, it was profoundly destabilizing, as expressed by the character Barbara: "I stood on the rock I thought eternal; and without a word it reeled and crumbled under me."

Divergent Literary Philosophies: Fabians and Bloomsbury

In the wake of Victorianism's decline, two distinct intellectual and literary groups emerged with contrasting philosophies on the purpose of art.

• The Fabian Society Group:

• Core Principle: "Art for life's sake" or for the sake of the community. Literature was secondary to sociological and political motives.

• Key Figures: Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells (initially), Beatrice and Sidney Webb.

• Objective: Founded in 1884 for the "spread of Socialist opinions, and the social and political changes consequent thereon."

• Legacy: The Webbs are identified as architects of the Welfare State. Their work led to "unprecedented material and physical benefit to millions" but was criticized for its blindness to the individual—the "exceptional, the eccentric, the individually independent-minded." This focus on state control treated individuals like "punched cards" and elevated "Mass Man" over the individual "Common Man."

• The Bloomsbury Group:

• Core Principle: A restoration, with a difference, of the "art-for-art's sake" principle, attaching great importance to art in civilized living.

• Key Figures: Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, Lytton Strachey, J.M. Keynes, Roger Fry.

• Characteristics: A circle of friends who were intellectually brilliant, valued good manners, and felt themselves to be of "superior mentality," tending to be "contemptuous of lesser minds."

• Influence: Roger Fry pioneered the acceptance of Post-Impressionist art in Britain. J.M. Keynes revolutionized economic thinking, and his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) is cited as a potentially significant factor in encouraging German resentment of the Versailles Treaty.

The 1922 Watershed: The Rise of Literary Elitism

The year 1922, with the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses and T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, is presented as a pivotal moment when "literature left the highroad of communication and retreated into an esoteric fastness."

• The Schism: Before 1922, leading writers like Hardy, Kipling, Shaw, and Conrad were enjoyed by critics and the "general body of averagely intelligent readers." After 1922, a new literature emerged that appealed "only to a small and fastidious public."

• Intellectual Arrogance: This new intellectualism was rooted in contempt for the general public.

• Stuart Gilbert, an interpreter of Joyce, wrote of Joyce never betraying "the authority of intellect to the hydra-headed rabble of the mental underworld."

• T.S. Eliot argued that those who see an "antimony" between elite literature and life are "flattering the complacency of the half-educated."

• The Decline of Craftsmanship: This literary shift coincided with a broader societal indifference and "positive antagonism" to form and style. By the 1950s, approved novels and plays often "flouted literary craftsmanship," and "Art gave place to anti-Art."

The Critique of Academic and Textual Criticism

The rise of intellectual literature was accompanied by a new form of academic criticism that is viewed with deep skepticism.

• Isolation from 'Life': New-style criticism based on close textual analysis, while claiming to be a "criticism of life," suffers from the handicap of its practitioners' isolation from the community at large. This leads to literature becoming mere "raw material for university exercise" in a process of "professional inbreeding."

• The Perils of Textual Analysis: A stark example is provided by Professor William Empson's analysis of T.S. Eliot's "Whisper of Immortality." Empson built an entire theory on a "syntactic ambiguity" that was, in fact, a printer's transposition error, which was corrected in a later edition. This demonstrates how easily "white may be made black" through such methods.

• The Literary Temper: The correspondence pages of journals like The Times Literary Supplement are cited as evidence of the "irascibility, the lack of philosophic calm, and (often) the discourteous quarrelsomeness pertaining to the literary profession."

Literature in an Age of War and Political Upheaval

The century's major conflicts profoundly shaped its literary output and intellectual mood.

• World War I and its Aftermath: The war produced a surprising "outburst of poetry" (e.g., Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen) that was accessible to the common reader. The post-war period saw an "avalanche of anti-war books," such as Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), though their ultimate effect is questioned—whether they promoted peace or habituated readers to horror.

• The Politicized 1930s: As the European scene darkened, a conviction arose among younger writers that "no art could justify itself except as the handmaid of politics." This led to "dreary polemics" as writers suppressed creative ability for social service. E.M. Forster, examining this trend, noted the individual's need to retreat from the community due to "Boredom: disgust: indignation against the herd."

• World War II: Fought in a mood of "stoical determination," this war produced little verse, and what was written was "mostly in a minor key and often obscurely phrased." It did, however, lead to a revival of interest in religious literature.

The Post-War Welfare State and Its Cultural Consequences

The implementation of the Welfare State after 1945 brought full employment and high wages but also a host of unanticipated social and cultural changes.

• Sullen Discontent: The removal of economic stress did not bring contentment. A "mood of sullen discontent" settled upon many, and crime and prostitution "flourished as never before."

• The Rise of Consumerism: Social habits once condemned as "conspicuous waste" became common to all classes. The post-1945 era saw the birth of the age of "status symbols" and "keeping up with the Joneses," accelerated by the hire-purchase system.

• The Power of Advertising: Advertising shifted from a focus on product quality to the use of "depth psychology" to evoke "automatic emotional response." It created subconscious links between products (beer, refrigerators, corsets) and fundamental human desires like love and sex, raising concern among groups like the National Union of Teachers.

The Psychological Turn and the "Revolt of Youth"

The mid-century was characterized by a preoccupation with psychological states and a widespread insurgency among the young.

• The Psychiatric Vogue: The writings of Kierkegaard, Rilke, and Kafka influenced a preoccupation with mental and spiritual disturbance. This created an assumption that "most men and women are cases to be diagnosed," the world is a "vast clinic," and "nothing but abnormality is normal." This trend is seen as having led to "disordered" imaginative literature.

• The Cult of Immaturity: The "affluent society" endowed adolescents with unprecedented spending power, leading to a "cult of immaturity." A cause for this "revolt of youth" was found in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

• The Beatnik Phenomenon: Originating in the US as a rejection of a "debased society," the beatnik cult was reflected in Britain. Characterized by "decrepitude of person and dress," adoption of anti-respectable vices, and a dependence on the society they claimed to despise, they were seen as figures of fun by some and as social parasites by others.

• Contempt for Authority: The period saw a prevalence of "bastard satire," which lacked the intelligence of true satire and descended into "witless innocence" and ridicule. This cheapened a high literary art form and reflected a broader societal contempt for authority and traditional wisdom. This is contrasted with the Victorian era, whose "so-called hypocrisies" can be seen in retrospect as "commendable reticence and modesty."

This Infograph shows the detailed structure of the text:

Here is the Video overview of Chap 1: The Setting Twentieth Century English Literature  by  A. C. Ward

Twentieth Century English Literature: Progress and Regress

English Video (made with NotebookLM AI)

Here is the Video  Podcast Debate overview of Chap 1 in Hindi : The Setting Twentieth Century English Literature  by  A. C. Ward

Hindi Podcast  (based on NotebookLM infographic + edited in Clipchamp)

Learning Outcomes:

Referances:

• Barad, Dilip. “Modernist Literature: Online Test & Thinking Activity.” Dilip Barad | Teacher Blog, 23 Mar. 2017, https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2017/03/modernist-literature-online-test.html.

• Barad, Dilip. Worksheet Lab Activity: Modernist Literature DH. 2025. ResearchGate, doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.22260.41603. 

• Ward, A. C. The Setting: Unit 5. Google Docs, docs.google.com/document/d/1jHd58kgj3JsTGiOYvf4PUKDElTl6Nm42YjfUkRbfW7o/edit.