Chapter on Modernism by RCAH’s Eric Aronoff Published in Cambridge Volume
March 21, 2024 - Maren Case '24
- RCAH professor’s chapter is included in the new Cambridge History of American Modernism.
- “I’m proud to have my work included alongside these cutting-edge scholars.”
- Culture and literary tradition collide in Aronoff’s new scholarship.
By Maren Case ’24
During the height of the Covid pandemic’s lockdown, RCAH Associate Professor Eric Aronoff began writing and revising a chapter that has now been published in a collaborative book on American Modernism by Cambridge University Press.
Aronoff’s chapter, Our Americas: Locating Modernisms, Dislocating Regionalisms, and the Place of Cultures, appears in the recent iteration of The Cambridge History of American Modernism, edited by Mark Whalan.
“This volume gathers together the new approaches and perspectives that have shifted the study of American modernism over the last 20 plus years,” he offered about the piece.
The book chapter traces nuanced ideas of culture with respect to the double-faceted notion of regionalism and modernism. Formulated on the works of notable authors from the 20th century such as Mary Austin, Zora Neale Hurston, and John Crowe Ransom, the article works to parse complex ideas of modernism, regionalism, literary forms, and anthropology.
Though an individual effort, Aronoff drew inspiration from conversations held with students in his RCAH courses taught in the Snyder-Phillips classrooms.
“As with all my research, this chapter has been informed by conversations with RCAH students over these past 17 years,” he said. “I’m very pleased to see it come out in print and proud to have my work included alongside these cutting-edge scholars.”
His research focuses on science fiction, nineteenth-and early twentieth-century American literature, anthropology, theories of culture, race and nation, literature and the environment.
Aronoff’s chapter, Our Americas: Locating Modernisms, Dislocating Regionalisms, and the Place of Cultures, is available to read in The Cambridge History of American Modernism. Learn more here.