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Western Civilization II / Unit 15   WC2 1420 short lesson, about 20 seconds

Modernism: Rejecting Authority, Art for Art's Sake

Captions available

The idea

Modernism, born around nineteen hundred and grown up in the twenties, rejected established authority and the post-Victorian middle class. It refused melodrama's moral messages: art for art's sake, provocation, either glorifying industry or experimenting with form. Its target was Victorian morality, hierarchy and control.

In practice

The inner life as a mess of drives, morality a smokescreen.

Where people slip

The anchor's definition.

Your place on the trail

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