
Modernist Fiction, Cosmopolitanism and the Politics of Community
Jessica Berman(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 18. January 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-521-03299-5 (ISBN)
Description
In Modernist Fiction, Cosmopolitanism and the Politics of Community, first published in 2001, Jessica Berman argues that the fiction of Henry James, Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf and Gertrude Stein engages directly with early twentieth-century transformations of community and cosmopolitanism. Although these modernist writers develop radically different models for social organization, their writings return again and again to issues of commonality, shared voice, and exchange of experience, particularly in relation to dominant discourses of gender and nationality. The writings of James, Proust, Woolf and Stein, she argues, not only inscribe early twentieth-century anxieties about race, ethnicity, nationality and gender, but confront them with demands for modern, cosmopolitan versions of community. This study seeks to revise theories of community and cosmopolitanism in light of their construction in narrative, and in particular it seeks to reveal the ways that modernist fiction can provide meaningful alternative models of community.
Reviews / Votes
'A splendid achievement! Berman's argument ... is wholly persuasive. This elegantly written book forces a trenchant rethinking of the underlying social impulses of modernism as a whole.' Laura Doyle, author of Bordering on the Body 'In this substantial, genuinely interdisciplinary and original book, Berman enters important discussions currently re-mapping modernist studies and makes a significant contribution to women's studies. Most notably, she gives us definitions of community that incorporate the private, the domestic, and the lost contributions of small specialized groups.' Bonnie Kime Scott, author of Refiguring ModernismMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
421 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-03299-5 (9780521032995)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
12/2004
1st Edition
Cambridge University Press
€27.99
Available for download
Person
Jessica Berman is Assistant Professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Content
Acknowledgments; Part I. Cosmopolitan Communities; Part II. Henry James: 1. 'The history of the voice': Cosmopolitan's America; 2. Feminizing the nation: woman as cultural icon in late James; Part III. Marcel Proust: 3. Proust, Bernard Lazare and the politics of pariahdom; 4. The community, the prophet and the pariah: relation in A la recherche du temps perdu; Part IV. Virginia Woolf: 5. 'Splinter' and 'mosaic': towards the politics of connection; 6. Of oceans and opposition: the action of The Waves; Part V. Gertrude Stein: 7. Steinian topographies: the making of America; 8. Writing the 'I' that is 'they': Gertrude Stein's community of the subject; Part VI. Conclusion; Notes; Index.