Modernist Women Writers and American Social Engagement explores the role of social and political engagement by women writers in the development of American modernism. Examining a diverse array of genres by both canonical modernists and underrepresented writers, this collection uncovers an obscured strain of modernist activism. Each chapter provides a detailed cultural and literary analysis, revealing the ways in which modernists' politically and socially engaged interventions shaped their writing. Considering issues such as working class women's advocacy, educational reform, political radicalism, and the global implications for American literary production, this book examines the complexity of the relationship between creating art and fostering social change. Ultimately, this collection redefines the parameters of modernism while also broadening the conception of social engagement to include both readily acknowledged social movements as well as less recognizable forms of advocacy for social change.

About the Author
Jody Cardinal is director of the Writing Center at the State University of New York, Old Westbury. Deirdre E. Egan-Ryan is associate professor of English at St. Norbert College. Julia Lisella is associate professor of English at Regis College.

Reviews
Modernist Women Writers and American Social Engagement fills in important missing contexts surrounding modernist writing. Although scholars have understood for decades that modernism was not the rarefied, apolitical realm it was sometimes claimed to be, there is still a great deal of work to be done in showing just how modernist writing was politically engaged. In a series of absorbing essays, the authors treat an array of modernist writers, from the canonical to the middlebrow to the little known, bringing to the fore the myriad social and political commitments animating their work. -- Maren Tova Linett, Purdue University
Modernist Women Writers and American Social Engagement is a welcome addition to the scholarship on gender in modernism/modernity, taking due notice of "middlebrow" writers. The editors and contributors capably relate their work to previous study, expanding on its social concerns, genres, terminology, and the diversity of its canon. The collection contains little-known examples of authors' activism and encourages comparison of diverse arenas and expressions of social engagement. -- Bonnie Kime Scott, professor emerita, San Diego State University and the University of Delaware



Book Information
ISBN 9781498582902
Author Jody Cardinal
Format Hardback
Page Count 326
Imprint Lexington Books
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Weight(grams) 671g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 162mm * 30mm