Race and the Modern Artist

Definitions of modernism have been debated throughout the twentiethcentury. But both during the height of the modernist era and since, little to noconsideration has been given to the work of minority writers as part of thismovement. Considering works by writers ranging from B.A. Botkin, T.S. Eliot,Waldo Frank, and Jean Toomer to Pedro Pietri and Allen Ginsburg, these essaysexamine the disputed relationship between modernity, modernism, and Americancultural diversity. In so doing, the collection as a whole adds an important newdimension to our understanding of twentieth-century literature.