Genre Fusion and Stylistic Hybridity in Modernism

Abstract

In literary studies, syncretism serves as a foundation for analyzing dynamics such as influence, assimilation, resistance, and transformation. This approach prioritizes the intercultural and intertextual dimensions of literature, allowing for a more complex and nuanced understanding of text creation and interpretation. This article examines the role of syncretism in modernist literature, focusing on how writers utilized new forms and techniques to challenge traditional norms. The analysis explores modernist strategies such as fragmented narratives, rejection of linear storytelling, and the breaking of established literary forms. In modernist literature, syncretism emerged as a tool for blending and experimenting with various genres and forms. Writers, including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and T.S. Eliot, reshaped traditional literary techniques to create open-ended, multilayered texts that allowed for multiple interpretations. These experiments broke away from conventional narrative structures and opened new avenues for expression. Syncretism in modernist literature not only involved the creation of new forms but also helped foster a deeper engagement with cultural and ideological shifts. Writers used this approach to express individual experiences and psychological realities, reflecting the chaos and disillusionment of their times. The interaction between text and reader was essential, as syncretism also emphasized reader-response theory, where meaning is generated through interpretation.