Modernism: A Very Short Introduction

Why do cultures depend so much on mythical illusions to the past? Could the bicycle chained to the gate next door be a work of art? How do human beings really think, when they are not speaking? How do high and low culture relate to one another? Why do we need the `progressive' and the `new'?In this Very Short Introduction Christopher Butter looks at the many innovations created by Modernist thinkers and artists, showing how powerful ideas and formal experiment have produced the music, painting, and literature which has informed all aspects of 20th and 21st century life.`A thoroughly good idea. Snappy, small format...stylish design...perfect to pop into your pocket for spare moments' Lisa Jardine, The Times`A very good Idea, these Very Short Introduction, a new concept from OUP' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian
Modernism ushered in some of the most exciting innovations in art and literature, from Fauvism, Cubism, and Dada, to the novels of James Joyce and Franz Kafka, to such provocative works as Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain." But Modernism also left many people puzzled in its wake. How can a routine bathroom fixture be considered a work of art? Shouldn't a novel have a beginning, a middle, and an end--or at least a story? In this Very Short Introduction, Christopher Butler provides a coherent account of Modernism across various aesthetic and cultural fields. Butler examines how and why Modernism began, explaining what it is and showing how virtually all aspects of 20th and 21st century life have been influenced by its aesthetic legacy. Butler considers several aspects of modernism, including some classic modernist works, movements and notions of the avant garde, and the idea of "progress" in art. Finally, Butler sheds light on modernist ideas of the self, subjectivity, irrationalism, people and machines, and the political dimensions of modernism as a whole.