In the 20th century, the concept of the arts made a dramatic transformation in comparison to the centuries prior. Before the concept of the arts and literature were limited to the ballet, opera, painting as well as various books, magazines and newspapers. By the time that the 20th century had fully evolved, this had created a broader division of the culture of the arts into various aspects outside of what previously was considered to be an art form.
The 20th century saw the term the arts, referring to a wide variety of classes that included the visual arts, language arts, performing arts, physical arts as well as the culinary arts. In retrospect, the term the visual arts generally refers to the idea that these are art forms that can be easily seen such as fine art and paintings, crafts and knick knacks as well as decorative art. The performing arts also have many other sub classifications but in general include things like theatre and ballet among other things.
All combined, these varying art forms made up the concept of the 20th century arts. Furthermore, other things also were added to the arts during the 20th century as some of these things never truly existed prior to the 20th century. Architecture for example was never really in existence prior to the 20th century as most buildings and structures were designed by artists who, although great at making a structure visibly appealing, lacked the greater knowledge of the various materials used in construction as well as their ability to withstand certain types of stresses.
Calligraphy as well made its way into the arts. While previously calligraphy was used in general writing styles of the upper class, their reintroduction into the latter half of the 20th century led to a rise in the demand for items written with calligraphy and as these demands increased so did the concept of it falling into the classification as an art form.
As the ability to travel between countries all over the world increased, the concept of the culinary arts too became prominent. Prior to the 20th century, unless you were a wealthy aristocrat, eating cuisine from or even in another country was a rare treat. As more and more people immigrated to various countries, they brought with them the foods and tastes that they grew up with and as a result the concept of the culinary arts was born.
In previous centuries, dancing was just something that happened. Although in certain situations various dance styles were called for depending on the situation as well as who hosted the get-together, it was not until the 20th century that the idea of dancing became an art form. Just like the culinary arts, as more and more people emigrated from their homelands, they brought with them as well, their local dance styles and traditions. Many people seeing a dance for the first time wanted nothing more than to learn the dance and as a result this too became an art form.
It was not until the Industrial Revolution that the ability for fashion to become a reality occurred. As a result, during the 20th century as more and more fashions became popular and various regions of the world became more prominent in various fashion styles, the concept of fashion became part of the arts in the 20th century.
The advent of the ability to film and take both still as well as motion photography also led to the concept of film as being part of the arts. Prior to the 20th century the only means of capturing an image was through an artist’s brush but by the 20th century not only was the ability to take pictures made a reality, but so too was the ability to catch motion on film.
While in previous centuries, literature and poetry were considered a separate form, after the 20th century they became included as a classification of the arts. From Medieval times, the liberal arts which included rhetoric, grammar and logic were the only taught forms of arts. This later was expanded to include geometry, arithmetic, astronomy as well as music but by the 19th century the concept of the humanities were also added to the arts. These would include things such as linguistics, history, women's studies, literature as well as philosophy. By the 20th century though, thanks to the many advancements in technology and the ease of travel around the world, many new art forms were discovered or created and as a result the ideals of the arts boomed during the century.
From the original fine arts and drawings to the newer concept of the structural engineer’s associate the architect, many changes in the arts occurred. The increase in types of music and styles also led to the inclusion of music into the arts. Never in the history of mankind have there ever been as many styles of music available to practically anyone who wishes to listen or experience them. Music is not just an art form for some; it is a legacy for future generations and must not only be appreciated, but shared for generations to come.
Literature too made some drastic changes during the 20th century. During the 20th century, literature could be divided into two classifications of which were divided by the occurrence of the Second World War. The first period was known as the modernist literature while the second period is considered post-modern.
Furthermore, the many technological advancements of the 20th century also allowed for the printing of books to become not only cheaper, but more readily available and as a result, more and more people all around the world started to read as a hobby. Much like music in the 20th century, the types of books as well as the topics also increased drastically. Some of this is caused by the 20th century being the largest world population in the history of the world while the rest was caused by the advances in the technology to make books easier to print and obtain. So easy now in fact, that someone can even write and publish their own book with very little money; sometimes even as low as a single week’s income at minimum wage is sufficient enough to publish a book.
Now it is important to take into consideration though, that the concept of 20th century literature actually ends in the year 1990 and not 1999. The reason for this is the fact that Sir Tim Berners-Lee developed the world’s first website in the early 1990’s and as a result this changed the concept of literature forever and made way for the electronic era.
Original Authors: Nick (Globel Team)
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 28/07/2008
