Concetti Chiave
- The Lost Generation refers to American expatriate writers of the Roaring Twenties, who critiqued American life after exposure to European culture.
- These writers highlighted the illusion of wealth and power in post-World War I America, challenging the societal norms of their homeland.
- The Roaring Twenties masked social issues like substance abuse and a loss of traditional values, leading to feelings of emptiness and confusion.
- Writers of the Lost Generation rejected both American provincialism and European cultural rhetoric.
- Paris became the epicenter for these disillusioned intellectuals, offering a cosmopolitan environment for artistic and cultural experimentation.
What was the lost generation and the roaring twenties?
The Lost Generation is an expression referred to all the American expatriates, who wrote most of the masterpieces at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, during the so-called “Roaring Twenties”. These American writers criticized American life after the exposition to the European culture, and the illusion of richness, power and wealth that was spreading across the USA after the First World War.
Social issues hidden by wealth
The enthusiasm after the War and the increasing of richness were actually hiding social problems such as the abuses of alcohol and drugs, the loss of solid values during and because of the War, the feel of emptiness and confusion deriving from the radical changes of the new century. The Lost Generation’s writers rejected the provincialism and the puritan values of their country, but even the rhetoric of the European civilization.
Paris as a hub for disillusioned intellectuals
Most of the disillusioned intellectuals of the Lost Generation found their home and the center of their experimentation in the city of Paris. In fact, the reference point in their works was the metropolis, with its cosmopolitan village of the arts, innovation and progress, far from the provincialism typical of towns and small cities in the deep America.
After the Second World War the ideal cosmopolitan city became New York.
Domande da interrogazione
- What was the main criticism of the Lost Generation writers towards American society?
- How did the ideal cosmopolitan city shift after the Second World War according to the Lost Generation?
The Lost Generation writers criticized American life for its illusion of wealth and power post-World War I, highlighting hidden social issues like alcohol and drug abuse, and the loss of solid values.
After the Second World War, the ideal cosmopolitan city for the Lost Generation shifted from Paris to New York.
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