Women and the Making of Literary Modernism in the Periodical Press

Eline Batsleer (Ghent University)

In the late twentieth century, feminist critics made a first attempt to give modernist women writers more recognition and to include them in the modernist literary canon. (Ledger 1997) In the past, modernism has been defined as a reaction against “a feminized mass culture” that aimed to re-establish a male aesthetic. (Huyssen 1986; Ledger 1997) This idea has largely conditioned our interpretation of modernism because, as Scott notes, “modernism as we were taught it […] was unconsciously gendered masculine.” (Scott 1990) Yet, as we all know, women did contribute to modernism in a variety of ways, not in the least through little magazines and periodicals. Indeed, as Scholes and Wulfman have stated, it would be impossible to imagine literary modernism without the magazine, which has played a crucial role in its development and allowed emergent modernist writers (both male and female) to find an audience for their work. (Scholes and Wulfman 2010; Marek 1995) Furthermore, the early twentieth century sees some major socio-cultural and political shifts that have a significant impact on women’s lives. As a result, one of the objectives of modernist women writers is to give voice to these changes and to “find ways to view themselves outside the parameters of patriarchy.” (Tova Linett 2010) This panel aims to investigate the way in which modernist women writers used the periodical genre to reflect on both the changing socio-cultural context and the changing views on female identity from a national, transnational or comparative perspective.

Interested scholars are invited to send their proposal, including a short bio and 300-word abstract, to modernism@ugent.be by 15 February 2023. The proposal must include the title of both the individual paper and the panel session.