"Most accounts of Modernism take the view that the movement's characteristic shifts--abstraction in painting, atonality in music, free verse in poetry--are cultural. This book puts a different account on the table. It argues that Modernism is fundamentally a cognitive shift, one in which the brain comes up against its own limitations. The shifts that characterize Modernism are essentially workarounds, the consequences of abandoning shared rule systems. To understand this, consider that a speaker and a hearer are able to converse only because they share the same set of internalized rules; namely, the grammar of the language they are speaking. Keyser's book takes the view that the same relationship exists between an artist and his/her audience. The artwork is created/perceived because the artist/audience share the same set of rules. It demonstrates in some detail what these shared rules look like and then tries to account for the changes that occurred when those rules were set aside by artists and, by necessity therefore, their audiences. This phenomenon is not new. This book argues that it is precisely the same phenomenon that led to the fundamental shift in scientific research initiated in the 17th century as a result of the work of Sir Isaac Newton. In other words, modernism and the scientific revolution are both shifts/workarounds occasioned by the brain coming up against its natural limitations"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.