Modernism and Time: The Logic of Abundance in Literature, Science, and Culture, 1880-1930

297 Pages·2000·1.77 MB·English

by  Ronald Schleifer

This page intentionally left blank
MODERNISM AND TIME
In Modernism and Time, Ronald Schleifer analyzes the transition
from the Enlightenment to post-Enlightenment ways of under-
standing in Western thought. Schleifer argues that this transi-
tioninthelatenineteenthcenturyandearlytwentiethexpresses
itself centrally in an altered conception of temporality. He
examines this period’s remarkable breaks with the past in
literature,music,andtheartsmoregenerally.WhereasEnlight-
enment thought sees time as a homogeneous, neutral medium,
in which events and actions take place, post-Enlightenment
thought sees time as discontinuous and inexorably bound up
with both the subjects and events that seem to inhabit it. This
fundamentalchangeofperception,Schleiferargues,takesplace
across disciplines as different as physics, economics and philo-
sophy. Schleifer’s study engages with the work of writers and
thinkers as varied as George Eliot, Walter Benjamin, Einstein,
and Russell, and offers a powerful reassessment of the politics
andcultureofmodernism.
ronald schleifer isProfessorofEnglishattheUniversityof
Oklahoma. He is editor of the journal Genre and has published
severalbooks,mostrecentlyasco-authorofCultureandCriticism:
The Role of Critique in Modern Literary Theory (1991) and Culture and
Cognition: The Boundaries of Literary and Scientific Inquiry (1992);
Rhetoric and Death: The Language of Modernism and Postmodern
DiscourseTheory(1990)iscloselyrelatedtoModernismandTime.

MODERNISM AND TIME
The Logic of Abundance in Literature, Science,
and Culture, 1880–1930
RONALD SCHLEIFER
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , United Kingdom
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521661249
© Ronald Schleifer 2000
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2000
- ---- eBook (EBL)
- --- eBook (EBL)
- ---- hardback
- --- hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
for my father,
Cy Schleifer

Contents
Preface page ix
Introduction:Post-EnlightenmentModernismandthe
experienceoftime 1
part i: post–enlightenment apprehensions
1 TheEnlightenment,abundance,andpostmodernity 35
2 Temporalallegories:GeorgeEliot,WalterBenjamin,
andtheredemptionoftime 67
3 ThesecondIndustrialRevolution:history,knowledge,
andsubjectivity 108
part ii: logics of abundance
4 Thenaturalhistoryoftime:mathematicsandmeaning
inEinsteinandRussell 149
5 Analogyandexample:Heisenberg,linguisticnegation,
andthelanguageofquantumphysics 184
6 Theglobalaestheticsofgenre:MikhailBakhtinandthe
bordersofmodernity 208
Notes 233
References 255
Index 268
vii