Paradoxy of Modernism
Robert Scholes
Abstract
This book intervenes in ongoing discussions about modernism in the arts during the crucial half-century from 1895 to 1945. While critics of and apologists for modernism have defined modern art and literature in terms of binary oppositions—high/low, old/new, hard/soft, poetry/rhetoric—the book contends that these distinctions are in fact confused and misleading. Such oppositions are instances of “paradox”—an apparent clarity that covers real confusion. Closely examining specific literary texts, drawings, critical writings, and memoirs, it seeks to complicate the neat polar oppositions attribute ... More
This book intervenes in ongoing discussions about modernism in the arts during the crucial half-century from 1895 to 1945. While critics of and apologists for modernism have defined modern art and literature in terms of binary oppositions—high/low, old/new, hard/soft, poetry/rhetoric—the book contends that these distinctions are in fact confused and misleading. Such oppositions are instances of “paradox”—an apparent clarity that covers real confusion. Closely examining specific literary texts, drawings, critical writings, and memoirs, it seeks to complicate the neat polar oppositions attributed to modernism. The book argues for the rehabilitation of works in the middle ground that have been trivialized in previous evaluations, and fights orthodoxy with such paradoxes as “durable fluff,” “formulaic creativity,” and “iridescent mediocrity.” The book reconsiders major figures like James Joyce while underscoring the value of minor figures and addressing new attention to others rarely studied. It includes twenty-two illustrations of the artworks discussed.
Keywords:
modernism,
binary oppositions,
paradoxy,
confusion,
durable fluff,
formulaic creativity,
iridescent mediocrity,
James Joyce
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2006 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780300108200 |
| Published to Yale Scholarship Online: October 2013 |
DOI:10.12987/yale/9780300108200.001.0001 |
