The legacy of modernism, and how it has been incorporated into the matrix of what we do now. What are you supposed to do when these people from the 19 20 still have this powerful claim on the idea of the contemporary? That's a real problem, and a problem you're going to be looking at over the next two weeks. And there are many other programs on modernism on radio three and radio four coming up.
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.