Humanities Vocab: Age Of The Masses, Zenith Of Modernism

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Mass culture

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The tastes, values, and interests of the classes that dominate modern industrialized society, especially the consumer-oriented American middle class

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Stream-of-consciousness

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A writing technique used by some modern authors in which the narration consists of a character’s continuous interior monologue of thoughts and feelings

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Epic theater

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A type of theater, invented by Brecht, in which major social issues are dramatized with outlandish props and jarring dialogue and effects, all designed to alienate middle-class audiences and force them to think seriously about the problems raised in the plays

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Logical positivism

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A school of modern philosophy that seeks truth by defining terms and clarifying statements and asserts that metaphysical theories are meaningless

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Existentialism

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A 20th-century philosophy focusing on the precarious nature of human existence, with its uncertainty, anxiety, and ultimate death, as well as on individual freedom and responsibility and the possibilities for human creativity and authenticity

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Suprematism

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A variation of abstract art, originating in Russia in the early 20th century, characterized by the use of geometric shapes as the basic elements of the composition

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Constructivism

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A movement in nonobjective art, originating in the Soviet Union and flourishing from 1917 to 1922 and concerned with planes and volumes as expressed in modern industrial materials such as glass and plastic

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Socialist Realism

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A Marxist artistic theory that calls for the use of literature, music, and the arts in the service of the ideals and goals of socialism and / or communism, with an emphasis in painting on the realistic portrayal of objects

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De Stijl

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Dutch, “the sty[le”; an artistic movement associated with a group of early-20th century Dutch painters who used rectangular forms and primary colors in their works and who believed that art should have spiritual values and a social purpose

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Dada

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An early-20th century artistic movement, named after a nonsense word that was rooted in a love of play, encouraged deliberately irrational acts, and exhibited contempt for all traditions

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Surrealism

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An early 20th-century movement in art, literature, an theater, in which incongruous juxtapositions and fantastic images produce an irrational and dreamlike effect

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International style

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In 20th century architectur, a style and method of construction that capitalized on modern materials, such as ferro-concrete, glass, and steel, and that produced the popular “glass box” skyscrapers and variously shaped private houses.

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Serial music

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A type of musical composition based on a twelve-ton scale arranged any way the composer chooses; the absence of a tonal center in serial music leads to atonality

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Twelve-tone scale

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In music, a fixed scale or series in which there is an arbitrary arrangement of the twelve tones (counting every half tone) of an octive;\n\ndevised by Arnold Schoenberg

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Neoclassicism

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Since 1970, Neoclassicism has been highly visible sub movement in Post-Modernism, particularly prominent in painting and architecture, that restates the principles of Classical art – balance, harmony, idealism

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Fortississimo

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In music, extremely loud; abbreviated fff

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Swing band

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A 15 to 16 member orchestra, which plays ballads and dance tunes;\n\nDominated popular music in the United States and in large cities in western Europe, from the early 1930s until the early 1950s