Modernists as Critics

Abstract

This article examines literary modernism's neglect of social and political criticism. One possible reason for this relative neglect is the fact that modernist works of social and political criticism have assumed varied and peculiar shapes. The article explains that the relative neglect of modernist social criticism has historically been less a consequence of scholarly ignorance of or indifference to this important body of writing than it has the predictable result of a professional desire to shield the study of modernist literature from the scandals and unwelcome controversies which scrutiny of these writings predictably elicits. Thus, modernist works of social and political criticism have appeared under numerous guises: editorials, book reviews, and academic lectures.