modernism

[Monte Davis]

> "Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what 
> is accepted as the norm, or the status quo, primarily in the 
> cultural realm. The notion of the existence of the 
> avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism"

A contrarian view -- a possible counterweight or sheet anchor -- is that the
avant-garde was always with us, but "modernism" got its capital M when: 

1) industrialization, mass production and discretionary income allowed
people to buy lots of *designed* stuff (designed by people who got at least
some of their training in the high culture)

2) mass education and communication fostered a sizeable market for
*opinions* about designed stuff

3) the eternal human lust for novelty put a premium on having the *latest*
opinions about the *newest* stuff

In other words, sometime around 1890 in Europe, a bit later in the US, and
by the 1920s in urban elites around the world, high culture was democratized
enough to become subject to the rapid cycles of *fashion*. Surprise,
surprise: Pound's "Make it new" and Diaghilev's "etonnez-moi!" (to Jean
Cocteau, who did his best to oblige) become the watchwords. Maybe if you dig
deep enough looking for the essence of "what was new in Modernism," you find
simply the premium put on newness itself.

The implications for "postmodernism" are left as an exercise for the reader.