20th Century Humanities or Modernism Is the Term Paper

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20th century humanities or modernism is the assumption that the autonomy of the individual is the sole source of meaning and truth. This belief, which stemmed from the application of reason and natural science, led to a perpetual search for unique and novel forms of expression (Keep, McLaughlin, & Parmar). Thus, it is evident that modernism discarded the Renaissance period's interest in the classical tradition and universal meaning, in favor of a belief in the individual.

The influence of naturalism on modernism is highly evident in its humanistic philosophy, especially in Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophical school of thought, existentialism. In a radical departure from the classical belief in a purposeful universe, created and governed by God, Sartre set out to disprove the existence of God, while simultaneously establishing that only individual free will can define or change the essence of being (Wyatt, 2004). The same emphasis on naturalism and the individual spirit can be seen in the impressionist school of painting.

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For example, Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass departs from the classical emphasis on formal arrangement to suggest new, more naturalistic, possibilities in the use of light and color in open-air painting (Pioch, 2002).

Modernism's departure from tradition to focus on individuality is evident in modern literature and music as well. Indeed, this is highly evident in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own and Louis Armstrong's composition Heebie Jeebies. Woolf, for instance, flouted all conventional notions of feminism and instead advocated that women should develop their own style and write "as women write, not as men write." (Lawrence University) Similarly, Armstrong displayed individualism in his Heebie Jeebies, where he introduced rhythmic "nonsense syllables" called "scat" for the first time (Smithsonian Jazz, 2004). Thus, it is apparent that humanities in the 20th century discarded the Renaissance interest and belief in the classical traditions, and chose instead to emphasize on the importance of the individual spirit.

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