Modernism and Mimesis

This book offers a bold new view of the way in which modernist fiction, painting, music, and poetry are interlinked. Dowden shows that modernism, contrary to alongstanding view, did not turn away from mimesis. Rather, modernism operatesaccording to a deepened understanding of what mimesis is and how it works, which in turn occasions a fresh look at other related dimensions of the modernistachievement. Modernism is neither "difficult" nor elitist. Instead, it trends towardsimplicity, directness, and common culture. Dowden argues that naïveté ratherthan highbrow sophistication was for the modernists a key artistic principle. Hedemonstrates that modernism, far from glorifying subjective creativity, directsitself toward healing the split between subject and object. Mimesis closes thisgap by resolving representation into play and festivity.