Moderns and Primitives

Modernism has been called a 'Renaissance of the Archaic'. We will read from the major works of Anglo-American modernism (Eliot, Joyce, Lawrence, Pound), focusing on their attitudes toward the primitive and the archaic. In addition, we will examine anthropological theories from the Victorian period to Durkheim, explore primitivism in modernist music and painting, and read about recent controversies surrounding modernism and primitivism.