The Modernist Exoskeleton: Insects, War, Literary Form

Rachel Murray

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

Abstract

Focusing on the writing of Wyndham Lewis, D. H. Lawrence, H.D. and Samuel Beckett, this book uncovers a shared fascination with the aesthetic possibilities of the insect body – its adaptive powers, distinct stages of growth and swarming formations. Through a series of close readings, it proposes that the figure of the exoskeleton, which functions both as a protective outer layer and as a site of encounter, can enhance our understanding of modernism’s engagement with nonhuman life, as well as its questioning of the boundaries of the human.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationEdinburgh
PublisherEdinburgh University Press
Number of pages224
ISBN (Electronic)9781474458221
ISBN (Print)9781474458191
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2020

Publication series

NameCritical Studies in Modernist Culture
PublisherEdinburgh University Press

Keywords

  • modernism
  • insects
  • war
  • form
  • aesthetics
  • entomology

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