Periodizing Modernism

This article examines different approaches to understanding how modernism as a literary movement can be connected to the historical period in which it was created. It explains that periodizing is the process of embedding modernism within a broader historical context and considers some of the challenges of anchoring modernism securely within a defined historical period. The article proposes some strategies that might be used to understand modernism historically and to indicate the larger set of issues raised by the aspiration to periodize modernism.

This article examines different approaches to understanding how modernism as a literary movement can be connected to the historical period in which it was created. It explains that periodizing is the process of embedding modernism within a broader historical context and considers some of the challenges of anchoring modernism securely within a defined historical period. The article proposes some strategies that might be used to understand modernism historically and to indicate the larger set of issues raised by the aspiration to periodize modernism.