The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism by Pericles Lewis

Abstract

8I4 Reviews vincing and offers theway for the fuller integration ofMaeterlinck reception into the history ofGerman-language drama. ROYAL HOLLOWAY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ROBERT VILAIN The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism. By PERICLES LEWIS. Cambridge: Cam bridge University Press. 2007. 298 pp. CI4.99; $24.99. ISBN 978-o-521 53527-4. It is a central objective of Pericles Lewis's Cambridge Introduction to Modernism to reintegrate thediverse strands of research thathave fragmentedmodernist studies in the last two decades. Lewis acknowledges the pivotal role of the established greats (Joyce,Pound, Eliot) but complements theirvoices with those fromoutside the main stream. Langston Hughes, Mina Loy, Siegfried Sassoon, and many others get their say on the controversial questions of the day, and the reproduction of aVanessa Bell painting on the cover epitomizes Lewis's strategy of approaching modernist literature byway of itscultural context. Chapters I to 3 are devoted to thegenesis of 'high'modernism, which is traced from Flaubert and Baudelaire throughWilde, Manet, Picasso, and Yeats. The strength of these chapters is their attention to both breadth and precision. They arewritten in a readable, jargon-free style and peppered with illuminative short interpretations of texts ranging frompoetry to sculpture, from diary entries tomanifestos. Important terms and concepts that are not covered by themain argument are explained in se parate boxes, and there are short bibliographies covering influential texts from the period and useful secondary literature. Lewis chooses England as his focal point but takes into account a largenumber of transnational influences from the literatures and cultures ofAmerica, Spain, Italy,Germany, Russia, China, and Japan. Chapters 4 to 6 detail themain modernist innovations inpoetry, prose, and drama, respectively.Here, thediscussion moves closer to the literary text.Lewis's approach consists in structuring each chapter around one representative work: The Waste Land forpoetry, Ulysses forprose, and Six Characters inSearch of an Author fordrama. This works better in the areas of poetry and prose, where much innovation originated within the internationalist anglophone avant-garde, than itdoes in thedrama chapter; but even here, Lewis succeeds in focusing on the important developments through his discussion of Pirandello's play. For the student, his approach has two decisive advantages: the focus on a single work makes the chapters more cohesive than their counterparts inother literaryhistories; and the technical explanations are unusually accessible since one need only to have read this single text to be able to retrace and comprehend theirpractical application. Chapter 7 moves on to the 1930s, which Lewis presents as a decade of repoliti cization. After a survey of political developments throughout Europe, in particular the rise of Fascism, he compares the responses to these developments on the part of modernists ranging fromPound and Eliot toAuden and Orwell. Inwhat isone of the best sections of thebook, he thus reintegrates all phases and major representatives of (British) modernism while at the same time illustrating how the new political influ ences resulted innew approaches toart and the aesthetic. The short conclusion traces theemergence ofpostmodernismin thepioneering works of Warhol, Celan, and Beck ett.Here, too, thebroad perspective points to the international and interdisciplinary impetus behind the entire book. Comprehensive surveys always triggerdiscussions as to their focus and choice of examples, and it is safe to say that The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism will be no exception. For instance, its introductory chapters treatVirginia Woolf and her MLR, I03.3, 2oo8 8I5 work ratherextensively,while equally innovative contemporaries such asHemingway, Musil, andGertrude Stein arementioned rarely throughout thebook. However, given the tendency in recent literaryhistory to cover an ever increasing number ofwriters and to avoid evaluating their importance, Lewis's unconventional structuringmight be just the right choice. His book certainly bridges a gap for students and teachers who have been looking foran up-to-date, comprehensive, yet accessible introduction to literary modernism. UNIVERSITY OF AUGSBURG TIMO MULLER ReconstructingHybridity: Post-Colonial Studies inTransition. Ed. by JOELKUORTTI and JopiNYMAN. (Studies inComparative Literature, 5 I)Amsterdam: Rodopi. 2007. x+330 pp. ?70; $95. ISBN 978-90-420-2I4I-9. This collection of critical articles reconsiders the concept of hybridity within the fieldsof postcolonial theory and literature.The volume isdivided into two sections, the firstoffering challenges to and reinterpretations of hybridity theory, the second consisting of textual...