Namangan davlat universiteti ingliz filologiyasi fakulteti amaliy ingliz tili kafedrasi

LESSON 3 
THE LITERATURE OF GREAT BRITAIN IN XX CENTURY 
Plan: 
1.
 
The 20th century English literature is remarkable for a great diversity of artistic 
values and artistic methods 
2.
 
English Literature in the 1930s 
3.
 
“Modernist” Poetry and Prose 
 
The 1920s were not a tranquil period for Britain. Massive unemployment was created by the 
return of hundreds of thousands of veterans to civilian life. English literature changed in both form 
and subject matter between the end of World War I in 1918 and the beginning of World War II in 
1939. The terrible destruction of World War I left many people with the feeling that society was 
falling apart.
The 20th century English literature is remarkable for a great diversity of artistic values and 
artistic methods. Following the rapid introduction of new modes of thought in natural science, 
sociology and psychology, it has naturally reacted to absorb and transform this material into literary 
communication. Fundamental political, social and economic changes in the world and, particularly, 
in Great Britain deeply affected the creative writing of the new century. The works of such writers 
as H.F.Wells, Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, Arnold Bennet, Joseph Conrad, E.M. Forster, 
Katherine Mansfield showed an earnest desire to express the feelings and thoughts of the British 
people. It was the basis of their approach to literature. That’s why their works became a new 
investment in the heritage of English realism and stimulated its further development. In the short-
story genre the art of Katherine Mansfield is a significant contribution to the traditions of English 
realism. 
 
2. English Literature in the 1930s and
A new generation of realist writers, among them Richard Aldington, John Boynton Priestley 
and Archibald Joseph Cronin appeared on the literary scene between 1930 and World War II. The 
world economic depression that began in the late 1920s had catastrophic effects in highly 
industrialized and heavily populated Britain. In two years exports and imports declined 35 percent, 
and unemployment reached three million. The Second World War, which began in 
September,1939, with Hitler’s invasion of Poland, was disastrous for Britain and her allies. During 
1939 and 1940 Nazi Germany mastered Europe. Only Britain under the leadership of Winston 
Churchill remained to oppose Hitler. But Britons heroically withstood the bombardment of their 
cities. With the entry of the United States into the war, and the failure of the German invasion of the 
Soviet Union, the tide began to turn. Although Britain and her allies were eventually victorious, the 
postwar years were extremely hard. The country was nearly bankrupt, and recovery was slow. Of 
the new poets writing during this period, the most important and influencial was W.H.Auden. 
During the 1930s, which he characterized as a “low, dishonest decade,” Auden was the 
acknowledged leader of a circle of writers who aligned themselves with the political left and 
attempted to expose the social and economic ills of their country. Although they considered 
themselves the creators of a new poetic tradition, the influence of Hopkins, Yeats, and Eliot on 
these young writers is great. Especially, it may be observed in their use of precise and suggestive 
images, ironic understatement, and plain speech.