According to Brittanica (excelente definition, by the way):
Expressionism in
literature arose as a reaction against materialism,
complacent bourgeois prosperity, rapid mechanization and urbanization, and the domination of the family within pre-
World War I European society. It was the dominant literary movement in
Germany during and immediately after World War I.
In forging a
drama of social protest, Expressionist writers aimed to convey their ideas through a new style. Their concern was with general truths rather than with particular situations; hence, they explored in their plays the predicaments of representative symbolic types rather than of fully developed individualized characters. Emphasis was laid not on the outer world, which is merely sketched in and barely defined in place or time, but on the internal, on an individual’s mental state; hence, the imitation of life is replaced in Expressionist drama by the ecstatic evocation of states of mind. The leading character in an Expressionist play often pours out his or her woes in long monologues couched in a concentrated, elliptical, almost telegrammatic language that explores youth’s spiritual
malaise, its revolt against the older generation, and the various political or revolutionary remedies that present themselves. The leading character’s inner development is explored through a series of loosely linked tableaux, or “stations,” during which he revolts against traditional values and seeks a higher spiritual vision of life.
Expressionism in literature arose as a reaction against materialism, complacent bourgeois prosperity, rapid mechanization and urbanization, and the domination of the family within pre-World War I European society. It was the dominant literary movement in Germany during and immediately after...
www.britannica.com
