Modernism, War, and Violence

Description

The modernist period was an era of world war and violent revolution. Covering a wide range of authors from Joseph Conrad and Thomas Hardy at the beginning of the period to Elizabeth Bowen and Samuel Beckett at the end, this book situates modernism’s extraordinary literary achievements in their contexts of historical violence, while surveying the ways in which the relationships between modernism and conflict have been understood by readers and critics over the past fifty years. Ranging from the colonial conflicts of the late 19th century to the world wars and the civil wars in between, and concluding with the institutionalization of modernism in the Cold War, Modernism, War, and Violence provides a starting point for readers who are new to these topics and offers a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the field for a more advanced audience. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents 1 A terrible beauty is born Modernism and war, modernism and violence The Great War and the “origins” of modernism War as watershed Before the Great War Late imperial apocalypse Wars to come 2 Modernism and the Great War Modernism and the crisis of cultural authority Women modernists and the “old men” Posttraumatic modernism 3 Modernism and political violence “Bewilderment” and the modernist novel Ireland’s wars 4 Journeys to a war New perspectives on modernism and the “interwar” Taking sides on Spain The writer’s platform and its critics 5 Modernism and the Second World War Thoughts on modernism in 1940 Second-wave modernism Bombsites as “waste lands” Epilogue: Cold War modernism? Works cited 1 A terrible beauty is born 2 Modernism and the Great War 3 Modernism and political violence 4 Journeys to a war 5 Modernism and the Second World War Epilogue: Cold War modernism? Bibliography 1 A terrible beauty is born 2 Modernism and the Great War 3 Modernism and political violence 4 Journeys to a war 5 Modernism and the Second World War Epilogue: Cold War modernism? Index