Modernism on Fleet Street

British Modernism came of age at a time of great cultural anxiety about the state of journalism, which was widely seen as a threat to literature, the national intellect, and the unity of culture. And yet, until now journalism's place as both indispensable and inimical to Modernism has constituted a previously written chapter in twentieth-century literary history. Patrick Collier's study incorporates an impressive amount of archival research in his exploration of modernism's relationship to the newspaper press. People who sought to make their way as writers could neither remain neutral on this issue nor abandon journalism, which offered an irreplaceable source of income and self-advertisement. Collier discusses five modern writers-T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Rebecca West, and Rose Macaulay - showing how their work takes part in contemporary debates about journalism and examining the role journalism played in establishing their careers. In doing so, he uncovers tensions and contradictions inherent in the identity of the 'serious artist' who relied on the ephemeral forms of journalism for money and reputation.

Patrick Collier is an Associate Professor of English at Ball State University, where he teaches nineteenth- and twentieth century British literature and culture.