This course is an introduction to the various interrelated developments of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in art, literature, cinema, music, theater, and philosophy which have come to be thought of together as “modernism.” Our approach will be international, taking in such movements as Impressionism, Futurism, Cubism, Vorticism, Dada, Jazz, Documentary, and Surrealism as they emerged in such locations as Harlem, Bloomsbury, and the Parisian Left Bank. We will consider some of the major debates that run through this period, in particular the longstanding debate over the merits of “modernism” vs. “realism.” We will attempt to place the various modernisms in the historical context of modernity, relating them to the rise of new technologies (the telephone, the gramophone, the cinema), new political and military realities (the collapse of the European empires, the capitulation to Total War), new racial and sexual identities, and new modes of urban living.
This is an introductory class: no previous study of the literature and art of the period is required. Written work will include five or six exams, a short essay of 4-5 pages, and a longer essay of 6-10 pages.