Reassigning “Modernism” : The Case for Adopting the Concept as a Period Designation in the Study of British Poetry
In academic work on modern British poetry, there is a tacit assumption that any poet belonging to the first rank must needs be a “Modernist”. Consequently, scholars and critics are keen to have poets they admire fit in under the “Modernism” umbrella. That desire has led to an extension of the concept–always notoriously hard to define–to the point of meaninglessness. Proceeding from a conviction th
