Series

Watch The Modern World: Ten Great Writers (1988) Online

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8.01 votes1988CanceledDocumentary

Synopsis

This documentary series uses drama and commentary to shed light on the lives and works of Joseph Conrad, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, T. S. Eliot, Henrik Ibsen, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Luigi Pirandello, Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf.

Episodes

Season 1

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1. James Joyce: UlyssesNow viewing1988-01-10From the series "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers", this playful documentary introduces James Joyce's most famous work "Ulysses". It includes fantastic adaptations to film from passages of the novel. It also includes excerpts from a book written by Joyce's friend, the artist Frank Budgen, entitled "James Joyce and the making of Ulysses". Amongst those interviewed is author Anthony Burgess.
2. Joseph Conrad: The Secret Agent1988-01-17When an anarchist attempted to blow up the Greenwich Observatory, an idea exploded in the mind of Joseph Conrad. This program re-creates the world of The Secret Agent, the first great novel of political intrigue, in all its suspense and sinister irony. In addition, author and critic V. S. Pritchett and Keith Carabine, of Kent University (England), explore Conrad’s concern that the very fabric of society was being jeopardized by the growing violence and moral corruption—a concern as timely today as it was then.
3. Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment'1988-01-24
4. Marcel Proust: A la recherche du temps perdu1988-01-31Withdrawing from the glittering high society he had so avidly courted, Marcel Proust spent the last decade of his life in virtual isolation, writing and revising Remembrance of Things Past. This program focuses on an intriguing dramatization of part seven of Proust’s magnum opus, in which narrator Marcel attends a reception for the new Princesse de Guermantes and discovers his life’s true vocation in the process. Professor Michel Butor, of Geneva University, and translator Terence Kilmartin add keen insights into the novel’s philosophical exploration of time, memory, and individual creativity.
5. Thomas Mann: The Magic Mountain1988-02-07A novel of ideas at once serious and comic, The Magic Mountain offers a bird’s-eye view of the political, philosophical, and social landscapes of pre-World War I Europe. This program uses provocative dramatizations of key scenes from Thomas Mann’s grotesque bildungsroman and employs the character of Mann himself, in a re-creation of a 1939 lecture, as a guide to the story’s heights and depths. In addition, Mann’s biographer, Nigel Hamilton, inquires into the story’s manipulation of time and the effects of environment on identity.
6. Henrik Ibsen: The Master Playwright1988-02-14This program, narrated by Ibsen biographer Michael Meyer, charts the development of Henrik Ibsen’s style over four periods: his early years of failure; his epic dramas; his sociological plays, such as A Doll’s House, Ghosts, and Rosmersholm; and his final plays, including Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder, and Little Eyolf, in which he dealt with the dark interior of the human soul. Televised productions and theater excerpts showcase Ibsen’s works, while writers John Mortimer and D. M. Thomas and psychologist Anthony Storr consider their complexity and treatment of daring themes such as women’s rights, venereal disease, and parental responsibility.
7. Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway1988-02-21Virginia Woolf pushed the boundaries of the novel as a tool for psychological inquiry through her experimentation with subjective and relativistic perceptions of time and events. This program intercuts scenes from a compelling dramatization of Mrs. Dalloway with a portrayal of Virginia Woolf—played by actress Eileen Atkins—who, based on entries from her diary, explicates the story. Literary critic Hermione Lee addresses topics in the novel such as the significance of shared external events and the theme of emotional bankruptcy, both of which propel this drama of the mind.
8. Luigi Pirandello: In Search of an Author1988-02-28In 1925 Luigi Pirandello brought his troupe to England as part of a worldwide tour. This program re-creates one day in London as “The Einstein of the Theater” watches his plays and, away from the footlights, confronts the paradoxical nature of his life. Portions of Six Characters in Search of an Author; Henry IV; Right You Are, If You Think You Are; and The Rules of the Game are meticulously staged, using actors’ accounts, period descriptions, and Pirandello’s own comments. Plus, biographical notes written by Pirandello himself provide a new angle on the inner torment that animates his work, while playwright Julian Mitchell and novelist Leonardo Sciascia critically analyze the action as it unfolds.
9. T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land1988-03-06Read by noted actors Michael Gough, Edward Fox, and Eileen Atkins, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land powerfully expresses the disillusionment and disgust of the post–World War I era in Europe. In this program, Professor Frank Kermode, of Cambridge University; Eliot biographer Peter Ackroyd; and poets Sir Stephen Spender and Craig Raine examine the complex nature of Eliot’s influential poem, analyze its appeal, and trace the reasons why it became one of the best-known emblems of the 20th century.
10. Franz Kafka: The Trial1988-03-13A suppressor of his own writings, Franz Kafka even requested that upon his death all his extant works be destroyed—yet those very works accurately prefigured the anxieties and alienation so commonly associated with the latter part of the 20th century. This program delves into Kafka’s fictional world, primarily through a gripping dramatization of The Trial, a combination of simple tale and complex parable describing Joseph K.’s bizarre arrest and execution. Professor George Steiner, of Geneva University, sheds light on the wellsprings of Kafka’s disturbingly prescient vision.
11. Ten Great Writers: The Seminar1988-03-20In this lively round-table discussion, moderator Melvyn Bragg; the late writer and critic Anthony Burgess; Professor George Steiner, author of Language and Silence; literary critic Hermione Lee; and writer and series consultant Professor Malcolm Bradbury debate what constitutes modernist writing. New literary themes generated by the era’s political and social upheavals are also discussed, including time, the unconscious mind, alienation, the changing role of women, and the consequences of two world wars. In addition, the panel suggests that the atrocities of the post-modern world led writers to reject modernist narrative techniques and seek a new syntax and vocabulary.

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Is The Modern World: Ten Great Writers available to watch online?

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How many seasons does The Modern World: Ten Great Writers have?

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers has 1 season and 11 episodes.

When did The Modern World: Ten Great Writers first air?

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers first aired in 1988.

Is The Modern World: Ten Great Writers still running?

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers's status on TMDB is: Canceled.

What genre is The Modern World: Ten Great Writers?

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers is classified as Documentary.