Intellectual Currents
This section focusses on the historical, sociological, philosophical, economic, political, and scientific context of modernism. Entries cover individuals, coteries, movements, and events. The primary criterion…
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Ouvroir de literature potentielle (Oulipo) [Workshop of potential literature]
Oulipo, Ouvroir de littérature potentielle [Workshop of potential literature] is a dynamic and even flamboyant group of writers, poets, and mathematicians who strive to elaborate…
League of Nations (1919–1946)
The League of Nations (1919–1946) was an intergovernmental organisation formed after World War I to mediate disputes among its member nations through diplomacy and collective…
Sombart, Werner (1863–1941)
Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist, was born into an upper-class family in Ermsleben. After studying economics and law, Sombart received his doctoral degree from…
Propaganda
Propaganda is the term for a variety of communication phenomena developed in the 20th century. As such, its meaning has changed over time from a…
Troeltsch, Ernst (1865–1923)
Ernst Troeltsch was a liberal German Protestant theologian and philosopher of religion whose work spans the last decades of the German Empire and the early…
Dieste, Eladio (1917–2000)
The Uruguayan engineer Eladio Dieste was trained at the School of Engineering of the University of the Republic at Montevideo, where he taught mathematics and…
Mannheim, Karl (1893–1947)
Karl Mannheim was one of the most influential sociologists of the early 20th century. He received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Budapest,…
Sapir, Edward (1884–1939)
Linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir is one of those thinkers whose fame has been increased but his full achievement somewhat underrated through association with just…
Al-Tahtawi, Rifa’a (1801–1873)
Rifa’a Rafi’ al-Tahtawi was an Egyptian reformer and thinker who is widely recognised as the pioneer of the Egyptian ‘Awakening’ (nahda) in the 19th century.…
Parnell, Charles Stewart (1846–1891)
Charles Stewart Parnell was the first president of the Irish Land League (1879) and the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (1879–1891). Born to a…
Rozanov, Vasily (1856–1919)
Leading writer, publicist, literary critic, and philosopher in late 19th- and early 20th-century Russia, Rozanov was born in Vetluga, Russia, in 1856, and remained in…
Kartodikromo, Mas Marco (1890–1932)
Mas Marco Kartodikromo (Cepu, Java, 1890 – Boven Digul, Indonesia, 1932) was a prominent writer and activist in the early days of the nationalist movement…
Pedrosa, Mário Xavier de Andrade (1900–1981)
While the Brazilian scholar Mário Pedrosa is known internationally as an art critic, his influence extends far beyond his writing on art. As an outspoken…
Reed, John (1887–1920)
Born in Portland, Oregon in 1887, John Reed was a radical American journalist known for his depictions of early twentieth-century labour politics and political revolutions.…
Mariategui, José Carlos (1894–1930)
José Carlos Mariátegui was the most influential Latin American Marxist of the twentieth century. From 1914 to 1920 he worked as a journalist in Lima,…
Panofsky, Erwin (1892–1968)
Erwin Panofsky was a German-American art historian who from 1926 to 1933 worked alongside Ernst Cassirer (1874–1945) at the University of Hamburg and at the…
Koyré, Alexandre (1882–1964)
Born Alexandr Vladimirovich Koyranskiy (Александр Владимирович Койранский) in Taganrog, Russia, Alexandre Koyré moved to Paris, France, as a student where he was active, with varying…
Read, (Sir) Herbert Edward (1893–1968)
Herbert Edward Read was one of the most influential theorists and promoters of modern art in Britain, with a career spanning over 50 years. He…
McTaggart, John McTaggart Ellis (1866–1925)
Cambridge philosopher, metaphysician, and mystic John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart was a key figure in initiating modernist shifts in philosophy by challenging traditional understandings of Christian…
Maritain, Jacques (1882–1973)
Jacques Maritain was a leader among those who attempted to update and transform Catholic teaching for the modern world. Born to a Protestant republican, he…
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution is considered one of the first social upheavals of the twentieth century. The military phase of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) started in…
Lin, Yutang (林语堂) (1895–1976)
Lin Yutang (林语堂) was a major figure in the development of twentieth-century Chinese modernity. He was a scholar, inventor, educator and translator, as well as…
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a social and political program advocating an economic system based on equal ownership of production and democratic rule by federated trade unions. Peculiar…
Structuralism
Structuralism, generally described, is a twentieth-century intellectual movement associated with linguistic studies in Europe, despite its vast applicability and many adherents. An initial aim of…