At the beginning of the 21st century, Americans live in a globally connected world. The experience of two world wars and advances in technology have eliminated our isolation from other countries. Solving complex economic, social, and environmental problems now often requires global cooperation. Contemporary literature reflects the anxiety of an era changing rapidly for both good and bad.

Timeline from textbook

The Rise of Modern Literature
An Era of Near-constant War
The Civil Rights Movement
Technology and the Environment

Change was the only constant for Americans in the early 20th century. In 30 short years, they faced a world war, an economic boom followed by the Great Depression, and shifting attitudes toward women’s place in society. However, the shock of World War I (1914–1918) was perhaps the most influential force on American writers of the early 20th century. Modernist writers, many of whom spent time living and writing in Europe, responded to the social and political upheaval of the war by experimenting with innovative styles and forms, and by focusing on the alienation of the individual in modern society. Transitional poets such as T.S. Eliot linked rich poetic traditions with modern ideas and concerns. Eliot’s The Waste Land stands out as one of the most representative and influential modernist poems. Other poets, such as Robert Frost, reinvented traditional genres, such as pastoral poetry. Modern writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck broke with the traditions of the past, turning to new methods and stylistic devices.

World War II (1939–1945) was a catastrophe of epic dimensions: the first war in history in which more civilians died than soldiers. America and the Soviet Union, allies during the war, emerged as rival superpowers and engaged in a decades-long Cold War, competing in a deadly arms race that threatened the world with a nuclear apocalypse. As technological sophistication and political anxiety increased, science fiction writers for example, Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut—explored possible future scenarios, sometimes in bleak post-apocalyptic or dystopian worlds. In an effort to contain the spread of communism, the U.S. military became deeply involved in civil wars first in Korea and then in Vietnam. Although the Cold War ended with the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, American warfare did not. In that same year, U.S. troops were sent to counter the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. On September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon led to U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Global violence and the spread of nuclear weapons to numerous countries have created a sense of instability that has profoundly affected writers and nonwriters alike.

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s is perhaps the most important social change in modern times. In 1954, the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling struck down school segregation as unconstitutional. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as a leader during these times, advocating nonviolent civil disobedience. Congress eventually passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawing segregation in public places and guaranteeing legal equality to African American citizens. In succeeding years, other groups drew on the ideals and tactics of the civil rights movement in their fights to end discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. As the civil rights movement gained momentum, African American writers began to gain wider recognition. In a variety of genres, authors made powerful statements about the harmful effects of racism and the need for change. While earlier writers of color often focused on the experience of discrimination, contemporary writing is expressive of the individual, culture, or place, while still managing to speak to universal human concerns.

In 1910, automobiles, telephones, and electricity were not yet common conveniences for most people. Today, robotics has transformed manufacturing and medicine, and advances in communications technology—especially the Internet and mobile devices—give people around the world instant access to information. A big question of our time is how to make the best use of this technology in a way that enhances the quality of life for all. The growth of technology has not come without costs, especially to the environment. Cars, trucks, and planes, as well as electric power plants, have largely relied on nonrenewable fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. While the supply of these natural resources once seemed infinite, we now know that they will eventually be exhausted. In addition, pollution from these fuels has damaged the earth, air, and water on which all life depends and has contributed to global climate change. Writers of fiction and nonfiction seek to understand the implications of these challenges for life today and for the future of the human race.