Includes bibliographical references (p. 252-267) and index.

Trials of modernity -- Primitivists and modernizers -- The avant-garde and high modernism -- Poetry -- Prose fiction -- Drama -- Literature and politics -- After modernism?

"More than a century after its beginnings, modernism still has the power to shock, alienate, or challenge readers. This introduction explains in a readable, lively style how modernism emerged, how it is defined, and how it developed in different forms and genres. Pericles Lewis offers students a survey of literature and art in England, Ireland, and Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century. Illustrated with modernist art and featuring suggestions for further study, this is the ideal introduction to understanding and enjoying modernist literature and art."--Jacket.