Race and the Modern Artist

Definitions of modernism have been debated throughout the twentieth century. But both during the height of the modernist era and since little to no consideration has been given to the work of minority writers as part of this movement. Considering works by writers ranging from B.A. Botkin T.S. Eliot Waldo Frank and Jean Toomer to Pedro Pietri and Allen Ginsberg these essays examine the disputed relationship between modernity modernism and American cultural diversity. In so doing the collection as a whole adds an important new dimension to our understanding of twentieth-century literature.