In 19 22, time and space are collapsing. The tonian universe is coming unstuck. And it's kind of happening in literature, too. Ezra pound am reads a ulysses for james joyce. He decides that from the moment that joyce put down his pen to finish ulysses, that was, that was when a new era came into being. So 19 22 is the year on modernism's birth certificate. But m suzanne: How did it feel different? What was being written about thit was different?
Modernism is a cultural and philosophical movement that emerged in the West during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s a complex hydra-headed beast that was pervasive in the arts, but also spread through modern industrial societies influencing architecture and science.
As part of a series of programmes on BBC Radio 3 and 4 celebrating modernism, Kirsty Wark presents an introduction to modernism – how and why did it arise at this time, and its legacy today. She is joined by the cultural historian Matthew Sweet who is presenting a 10-part series for BBC Radio 4 on a crucial year for modernism: 1922 – The Birth of Now.
Suzanne Hobson, from Queen Mary University of London, is an expert on modernist literature, and examines the defining characteristics of the genre, while the musician Soweto Kinch discusses the impact of modernism on music, especially the development of jazz, and how it plays out today.
While innovations in the arts including stream of consciousness, atonal music and abstract art are the headline acts for modernism the academic Charlotte Sleigh looks more closely at what was happening in the sciences, and how innovations in physics, psychology and technology changed the way people experienced the world.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Image: Modulor le Corbusier. Cover template.