Institutions of Modernism: Literary Elites and Public Culture (Henry McBride Series in Modernism and Mo) - Hardcover

Rainey, Lawrence

4.06

16 ratings by Goodreads

9780300070507: Institutions of Modernism: Literary Elites and Public Culture (Henry McBride Series in Modernism and Mo)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300070500 ISBN 13: 9780300070507

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1999

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This book recounts new and startling stories about five major modernist figures--James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, H. D., and F. T. Marinetti--whose individual tales offer fresh perspectives on the larger story of modernism itself. The author explores why the cultural status of literary modernism became increasingly troubled and how the public and the cultural and literary elites became mutually estranged.

Henry McBride Series in Modernism and Modernity

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Focusing on anglophone literary modernism from 1912 through the postwar period, Rainey (Modernist Literature/Univ. of York, England) examines such issues as the shift from elitist to mass culture, the rise of the market in determining aesthetic va lues, and the role of patronage. Ezra Pound's transformation from an esoteric poet to the founder of Imagism, which appealed to new institutions of mass culture, epitomizes a sweeping change in modern artistic practices. In 1922, the publication of Joyce' s Ulysses by Sylvia Beach and of Eliot's The Waste Land in the journal Dial marked the entry of modernism into the public sphere via the process of its commodification. Rainey uses these simultaneous literary events to demonstrate the collapse of aestheti c autonomy under the weight of commercial criteria. Nevertheless, his meticulous exploration of Dial archives fails to convince the reader that modernism rendered superfluous ``close reading,'' the idea that works should be evaluated solely by their intri nsic aesthetic value. True, publishers practiced ``not-reading,'' since their parameters for book evaluation were dictated largely by practical considerations. This doesn't mean, however, that the general public, and particularly students of literature, a lso judged books by their marketability. While ``close reading'' did undergo a noticeable decline, Rainey is premature in declaring it obsolete. The most enticing chapters of the book deal with the problem of patronage. Interpreting the Malatesta Cantos, Rainey reveals Pound's attempt to encourage Mussolini to develop Italy as a thriving cultural center. His discussion of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) challenges her reputation as an icon of modernist marginality in terms of sexual identity, race, and art. After dismissing ideological criticism, which only accepts ``politically correct'' values, Rainey portrays H.D. as a more three-dimensional personality, who takes advantage of financial comfort provided by generous sponsors and indulges in coterie poetics. Rai ney's revision of important modernist concepts is a sound contribution to literary history, although his study suffers from occasional overstatement and becomes mired in facts and figures dry enough to daunt even a dedicated reader. -- Copyright � ;1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

Rainey (modernist literature, Univ. of York, England) here describes the sociology of modernist literature in England between 1912 and 1922. He discusses the publishing history of Pound, Eliot, Joyce, Marinetti, and H.D., examining Pound's career from literary pioneer and organizer to his embrace of Italian fascism, the publishing history of Joyce's Ulysses and the marketing ploy of "private editions," and the editorial and monetary decisions involved in the publication of Eliot's The Waste Land. The nature of literary magazines, family, friends, and patrons of the period are described carefully and fully. Various views of modernism have been discussed recently (e.g., as montage, as discontinuity), but Rainey places modernism in its institutional and economic setting. An important and original discussion of literary sociology from the 19th-century bourgeoisie to the modern university; recommended for literature collections.?Gene Shaw, NYPL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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