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Professor Utzman
ENGL 2331-#
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The theme of Democracy in Modern Literature
In the twentieth century, with the rise of industrialization, capitalism emerged which gave birth to democracy. Feudalism and suppression of rights of layman ended when equality of rights laid a strong basis in society. With the change in the world, came a change in the style of writing literature as well.
Democracy became the key element for writers when they produced any form of literature. This was being done in order to spread awareness of equity among people. The most eminent poet to write on the theme of democracy is Walt Whitman for in his “Songs of Myself” he wrote(KATEB);
“I am the poet of slaves and I am the poet of the masters of the slaves.”
When the Slave Emancipation Act was passed, people started speaking for their rights and this was evident from the topics people were choosing to write upon. As Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Scarlet letter against women subjugation ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ugnPgOjM","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Reynolds)","plainCitation":"(Reynolds)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":132,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/6hWtnKoy/items/Q5KPNW7G"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/6hWtnKoy/items/Q5KPNW7G"],"itemData":{"id":132,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Scarlet Letter and Revolutions Abroad","container-title":"American Literature","page":"44-67","volume":"57","issue":"1","source":"JSTOR","archive":"JSTOR","DOI":"10.2307/2926312","ISSN":"0002-9831","author":[{"family":"Reynolds","given":"Larry J."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1985"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Reynolds). This novel demanded democracy with a feministic approach and demanded equity for all. Industrial Revolution brought changes to every medium of life and literature was representing the sentiments of people.
Literature is itself democracy for all and sundry and it is the easiest mode of claiming for justice as people can demand what they desire. People can state what they like and express their sentiments. This theme was being used by American Modernist Writers to dive deep in the ocean of literary advancements.
Work Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY KATEB, GEORGE. “Walt Whitman and the Culture of Democracy.” Political Theory, vol. 18, no. 4, Nov. 1990, pp. 545–71. SAGE Journals, doi:10.1177/0090591790018004004.
Reynolds, Larry J. “The Scarlet Letter and Revolutions Abroad.” American Literature, vol. 57, no. 1, 1985, pp. 44–67. JSTOR, JSTOR, doi:10.2307/2926312.
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