The Lost Generation

by Salina Sanchez

This text of this document is located at

http://www.uvm.edu/~cesscchs/lostgeneration.htm

  

          Gertrude Stein coined the phrase "Lost generation" to describe the intellectuals, poets, artists, and novelists that rejected the values of post World War I America and relocated to Paris to live a bohemian lifestyle.

Writers and artists expatriated for many reasons,  but the members of the 'lost generation' moved to Paris to avoid the rigid prohibition state of mind prevalent in America. While in Paris they led completely unconventional lives compared to American standards in the early 20th century. They commonly searched for meaning, drank excessively, had love affairs, and created some of the finest American literature to date. All of these famous writers preformed their best work and fused great friendships while living in Paris between 1914 and 1920. Commonly known as the "lost generation," these writers critiqued and consulted with each other and collaborated to bring about literary innovation and change.

     "The Lost Generation" comes down to a group of disgruntled but talented expatriate writers who escape prohibition in America by living colorfully abroad in Paris, France.

 

Ernest Hemingway a native of Illinois, sought refuge in Paris after taking part in World War I as a Red Cross attendant. His time in Paris as well as his work as a reporter for the Kansas City Star had a major influence on Hemingway's craft. While in Paris he was privileged with influenced of fellow writers such as Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. It was in a conversation with Hemingway that Stein coined the phrase "Lost Generation". Hemingway was frequently seen in a café drinking with writers such as Pound and Fitzgerald. Hemingway wrote his first novel The Sun Also Rises while residing in Paris.
   
             F. Scott Fitzgerald enlisted in the army and was stationed in Alabama where he met his wife Zelda. However, World War I finished before he saw any action. They had moved to Paris because it was decisively less expensive to live there since they had blown all the money Fitzgerald had made from the sales of his first novel This Side Of Paradise. He and Zelda were normally found parading around the streets of Paris expressing their "loose and lavish" lifestyle.
   

Ezra Pound, originally from Idaho, spent most of his childhood traveling around Europe; however, he was too old to participate in World War I. While in Paris he worked as a journalist for a poetry magazine. He wrote many poems while taking up occupancy in Paris. His poetry evolved due to the association with James Joyce, H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) and Ernest Hemingway. It was not just Paris but Chinese and Japanese poetry provided him with interesting touches to his work. In 1920 his novel Umbra was published.

   
   
  John Dos Passos born in Chicago, contributed to World War I as an ambulance driver for France. After the war in Paris Passos wrote One Man's Initiation which chronicles his experience of the war. He received world acclaim for introducing "camera eye" and other techniques, which sharpened his literary descriptions. Dos Passos expressed defined leftist views in his writing and as arrested for them during wartime.
   
   James Joyce native European repeatedly moved with his family as a result of financial difficulties. His family and surrounding environment would spill into his writing as can be seen in his novels A Portrait Of An Artist As A Young Man, Dubliners and Ulysses. He eventually left to Paris to continue his education in medicine but turn to writing professionally. Reflecting the free spirited time Joyce lived unmarried to the mother of his children, they also relied on the financial support of his brother. Joyce received immediate acclaim for his talent, thanks to Ezra Pound who introduced him to a publisher. He acquired the most praise for his novel Ulysses that was originally banned from Britain and the U.S.
   
  H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) a Pennsylvanian native decided to spend one summer in Europe but remained for the remainder of her life. She was welcomed and inspired by writers like Ezra Pound. For the early twentieth century H.D. wrote many feminist pieces that spoke to women at the time. Her works include Trilogy, Sea Garden and Helen In Egypt.
   
Gertrude Stein also Pennsylvania forged her way to Paris with her artist brother Leo. They soon became friends with the booming crowd of talent: Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce. The interaction with French artist greatly contributed to the evolution of Stein's writing skills.
   
T.S. Eliot