Modernist Intimacies

Illuminates the new and unsettling forms of intimacy explored in modernist literature and artOpens up fresh perspectives on modernism as central to early twentieth-century explorations of new modes of intimacy, many of which shape today's social and political lifeOffers a timely account of modernist intimacies, where experts elucidate a wide spectrum of modernist texts from within the emergent field of intimacy studiesProvides original and innovative definitions of intimacy that will be valuable for research and teaching in literary subjectsModernist Intimacies traces modern intimacy back to the first decades of the twentieth century, showing that modernism played a crucial role in its emergence. Intimacy can no longer be seen as an exclusively private, familiar sphere of life independent of sociopolitical realities, and the twelve chapters present incisive, original perspectives on intimacy as a vital dimension of modernist aesthetic and social practices. They engage topics from music-making, wartime radio broadcasting and transnational relations to diary-writing, sexual pleasure, queer religiosity and same-sex love. In attending to a wide range of print literary texts as well as other media such as church murals and sonic archives, the book also points to the resonance of modernist intimacies in our own time.