Riddhi Bhatt: The Setting of the 20th Century Literature : science fiction

Hello Beautiful People,

I am Riddhi Bhatt. And yes, today I am coming with something interesting. This thinking activity task about The Setting of the 20th Century Literature & also science fiction genre is assigned by by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavangar University (MKBU).

As a part of syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper called History of English literature 1900-2000 (paper-110). So let’s start friends. First, we see that 20^th century or what is the meaning of modern literature. Also, we discuss about characteristics of 20^th century literature and most important science fiction of this century. Than we see that Jule Vern's most popular novel "Around the World in Eighty Days".

20th century in literature:

Literature of the 20th century refers to world literature produced during the 20th century (1901 to 2000). In terms of the Euro-American tradition, the main periods are captured in the bipartite division, Modernist literature and Postmodern literature, flowering from roughly 1900 to 1940 and 1960 to 1990 respectively, divided, as a rule of thumb, by World War II. The somewhat malleable term "contemporary literature" is usually applied with a post-1960 cut off point.

Although these terms (modern, contemporary and postmodern) are most applicable to Western literary history, the rise of the globalization has allowed European literary ideas to spread into non-Western cultures fairly rapidly, so that Asian and African literatures can be included into these divisions with only minor qualifications. And in some ways, such as in Postcolonial literature, writers from non-Western cultures were on the forefront of literary development.

The division of "popular literature" and "high literature" in the 20th century is by no means absolute, and various genres such as detectives or science fiction fluctuate between the two. Largely ignored by mainstream literary criticism for the most of the century, the best-selling literary works of the 20th century are estimated to be The Lord of the Rings (1954/55), Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince, 1943), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997, 120 million copies) and Then There Were None (1939,). The Lord of the Rings was also voted "book of the century" in various Perry Rhodan (1961 to present) proclaimed as the best-selling book series, with an estimated total of 1 billion copies sold.

"From 1901 to 1925, English literature was directed by mental attitudes, moral ideals and spiritual values at almost the opposite extreme to the attitudes, ideals and values governing Victorian literature. The old certainties were certainties no longer. everything was held to be open to question."

-The Modern English Literature' by A C Ward

Characteristics of Modernist Literature:

Literature scholars differ over the years that encompass the Modernist period, however most generally agree that modernist authors published as early as the 1880s and into the mid-1940s. During this period, society at every level underwent profound changes. War and industrialization seemed to devalue the individual. Global communication made the world a smaller place. The pace of change was dizzying. Writers responded to this new world in a variety of ways.

1) Individualism:

In Modernist literature, the individual is more interesting than society. Specifically, modernist writers were fascinated with how the individual adapted to the changing world. In some cases, the individual triumphed over obstacles. For the most part, Modernist literature featured characters who just kept their heads above water. Writers presented the world or society as a challenge to the integrity of their characters. Ernest Hemingway is especially remembered for vivid characters who accepted their circumstances at face value and persevered.

2) Absurdity:

The carnage of two World Wars profoundly affected writers of the period. Several great English poets died or were wounded in WWI. At the same time, global capitalism was reorganizing society at every level. For many writers, the world was becoming a more absurd place every day. The mysteriousness of life was being lost in the rush of daily life. The senseless violence of WWII was yet more evidence that humanity had lost its way. Modernist authors depicted this absurdity in their works. Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," in which a traveling salesman is transformed into an insect-like creature, is an example of modern absurdism.

3) Formalism:

Writers of the Modernist period saw literature more as a craft than a flowering of creativity. They believed that poems and novels were constructed from smaller parts instead of the organic, internal process that earlier generations had described. The idea of literature as craft fed the Modernists' desire for creativity and originality. Modernist poetry often includes foreign languages, dense vocabulary and invented words. The poet i.e. cummings abandoned all structure and spread his words all across the page.

4) Experimentation:

Modernist writers broke free of old forms and techniques. Poets abandoned traditional rhyme schemes and wrote in free verse. Novelists defied all expectations. Writers mixed images from the past with modern languages and themes, creating a collage of styles. The inner workings of consciousness were a common subject for modernists. This preoccupation led to a form of narration called stream of consciousness, where the point of view of the novel meanders in a pattern resembling human thought. Authors James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, along with poets T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, are well known for their experimental Modernist works.

What Is Science Fiction Writing?

Science fiction is one of the most creative genres in literature. Sci-fi novels take readers on adventures from faraway galaxies to underwater worlds and everywhere in between, introducing them to otherworldly characters and technologies along the way. Learn more about the history of this fascinating genre.

Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that contains imagined elements that don’t exist in the real world. Science fiction spans a wide range of themes that often explore time travel, space travel, are set in the future, and deal with the consequences of technological and scientific advances.

Sub-genres and Related Genres of Science Fiction:

1) Fantasy fiction: Sci-fi stories inspired by mythology and folklore that often include elements of magic.

2) Supernatural fiction: Sci-fi stories about secret knowledge or hidden abilities that include witchcraft, spiritualism, and psychic abilities.

3) Utopian fiction: Sci-fi stories about civilizations the authors deem to be perfect, ideal societies. Utopian fiction is often satirical.

4) Dystopian fiction: Sci-fi stories about societies the authors deem to be problematic for things like government rules, poverty, or oppression.

5) Space opera: A play on the term “soap opera,” sci-fi stories that take place in outer space and center around conflict, romance, and adventure.

6) Space western: Sci-fi stories that blend elements of science fiction with elements of the western genre.

7) Cyberpunk: Sci-fi stories that juxtapose advanced technology with less advanced, broken down society.

8) Steampunk: Sci-fi stories that blend technology with steam-powered machinery.

So here I want to talk about a very famous science fiction written during the early half of the twentieth century and that is Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.

Introduction of Around the World in Eighty Days:

Around the World in Eighty Days (French: Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.

the stories start in London on Wednesday, 2 October 1872. Phileas Fogg is a wealthy English gentleman living a solitary life. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club, where he spends the best part of his days. Having dismissed his former valet, James Forster, for bringing him shaving water two degrees too cold (at 29 °C (84 °F) instead of 30 °C (86 °F)), Fogg hires Frenchman Jean Passepartout as a replacement.

At the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager for £20,000 (approximately £2.3 million in 2020)half of his total fortune, from his fellow club members to complete such a journey within this time period. With Passepartout accompanying him, Fogg departs from London by train at 8:45 p.m. on 2 October; in order to win the wager, he must return to the club by this same time on 21 December 80 days later. They take the remaining £20,000 of Fogg's fortune with them to cover expenses during the journey.

The following day Fogg apologises to Aouda for bringing her with him, since he now has to live in poverty and cannot support her. Aouda confesses that she loves him and asks him to marry her. As Passepartout notifies a minister, he learns that he is mistaken in the date – it is not 22 December, but instead 21 December. Because the party had travelled eastward, their days were shortened by four minutes for each of the 360 degrees of longitude they crossed; thus, although they had experienced the same amount of time abroad as people had experienced in London, they had seen 80 sunrises and sunsets while London had seen only 79. Passepartout informs Fogg of his mistake, and Fogg hurries to the Reform Club just in time to meet his deadline and win the wager. Having spent almost £19,000 of his travel money during the journey, he divides the remainder between Passepartout and Fix and marries Aouda.

Could you actually go around the world in 80 days?

Around the World in 80 Days is a novel be Jules Verne about an Englishman who makes a bet with some fellow club members that he can travel around the world in 80 days.

Nowadays with modern flight, going round the world in 80 days wouldn't only be possible, but could be done 40 times over.

But at the time the book was published in 1873, there was no flight, just steamships, railways and hot air balloons.

So at this time, would going round the world (visiting every time zone, and at least staying out of the polar circles) in 80 days be possible, or would this feat be quite a big thing which is why the book became so popular and famous?

In Around the World in Eighty Days :

The technological innovations of the 19th century had opened the possibility of rapid circumnavigation and the prospect fascinated Verne and his readership. In particular, three technological breakthroughs occurred in 1869–70 that made a tourist-like around-the-world journey possible for the first time: the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in America (1869), the linking of the Indian railways across the sub-continent (1870), and the opening of the Suez Canal (1869). It was another notable mark in the end of an age of exploration and the start of an age of fully global tourism that could be enjoyed in relative comfort and safety. It sparked the imagination that anyone could sit down, draw up a schedule, buy tickets and travel around the world, a feat previously reserved for only the most heroic and hardy of adventurers.

Verne's works began receiving more serious reviews in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with new translations appearing. Post-Colonial readings of the novel elucidate Verne's role as propagandist for European global dominance. Verne’s novel, one of the most widely read of the 19th century, played a major role in shaping European attitudes of the colonized lands.

This book is available in Guajarati language and I am glad to say that I read this book many many times and in this reason I purchase this book. So, some few words I want to describe in Guajarati….

બેંક ઓફ ઇંગ્લેન્ડમાં થયેલી એક લુંટના સંદર્ભમાં 80 દિવસમાં પૃથ્વીની પ્રદક્ષિણા કરી બતાવવાનો એક પડકાર કથાનાયક ફીલીયસ ફોગ સામે આવે છે. શાંત, સ્ર્વસ્થ અને ચાલુ થઈ - લંડનથી લંડન વાયા યુરોપ, ઇન્ડિયા, ચીન, જાપાન અને અમેરિકાની જીવસટોસટના સાહસોથી ભરેલી યાત્રા. કથાનો સૌથી રોમાંચક ભાગ લેખકને પ્રિય એવા ઇન્ડિયા સંબંધી છે. મલબાર હિલના મંદિરનો દિલધડક પ્રસંગ, હાથી ઉપરની અનોખી સવારી. બુંદેલખંડની રાજરાણીની વિતકકથા, કલકત્તાની કોર્ટમાં ભજવાયેલું સજા -એ -અમલનું પ્રહસન, ઉપરાંત હજારો જંગલી ભેસોના ટોળા દ્રારા અટકાવતી રેલગાડી અને છેલ્લે નાયક અને ખલનાયક વચ્ચેના દ્રંદ્રના પ્રસંગો કથાના અંત સુધી વાચકને જકડી રાખે છે.