The Poetics of Transition: Emerson, Pragmatism, and American Literary Modernism

This text examines the connection between American pragmatism and literary modernism by focusing on the concept of transition as a theme common to both movement. The author draws on the pragmatist and neopragmatist writings of William James, John Dewey, George Santayana, Richard Rorty, and Cornel West to illuminate the work of modernist literature. The book also illuminates the poetic imperatives of pragmatism by tracing the ways in which Henry James, Gertrude Stein, and Wallace Stevens capture the moment of transition. Throughout the book, there is an examination of how modernist writers contribute to an expanded understanding of pragmatism and its underlying aesthetics. By linking Emerson with the progressive philosophy of turn-of-the-century pragmatism and the experimantation of American literary modernism, the author offers insight into Emerson’s lasting influence on later American philosophers, novelists, and poets.