In the arts, a general term used to describe
the 20th century's conscious attempt to break
with the artistic traditions of the 19th
century; it is based on a concern with form
and the exploration of technique as opposed
to content and narrative. In the visual arts,
direct representationalism gave way to
abstraction (see abstract art); in
literature, writers experimented with
alternatives to orthodox sequential
storytelling, such as stream of
consciousness; in music, the traditional
concept of key was challenged by atonality;
and in architecture, Functionalism ousted
decorativeness as a central objective.
Critics of Modernism have found in it an
austerity that is seen as dehumanizing.
Modernism as a movement is followed by
Post-Modernism.