Final answer:
The term that describes the unique features in literature and the other arts after World War I is Modernism. This movement involved experimentation and rejected traditional forms to better represent the modern reality.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term used to describe new and distinctive features in literature and the arts, particularly after World War I, is Modernism. This period brought about a conscious break with the past and the establishment of a new way of seeing and expressing reality. Modernist literature and art were characterized by a spirit of experimentation, a rejection of traditional forms, and a search for new ways to reflect the complexities of the modern world.
Modernism emerged out of the profound changes in society during the early 20th century, including the disillusionment brought by World War I. Writers and artists questioned established social and moral orders, producing works that reflected the uncertainties of the time. They aimed to 'Make It New,' as famously stated by the poet Ezra Pound, by employing techniques like stream-of-consciousness in fiction or atonality in music.
Postmodernism, which followed and reacted against Modernism, further experimented with narrative techniques and expressed a sense of the absurdity of life in the contemporary world, as seen in the works of authors like Don DeLillo and David Foster Wallace.