Author: Victoria Wilson, Gumberg Library Intern
As an English major with a concentration in Literature, research is always necessary when writing papers. I have even used various library guides, like the ones on Jane Austen and Frankenstein, while conducting my research for class. However, creating a research guide has shown itself to be vastly different than conducting simple research for a paper. My research guide on British Modernism allows the researcher to find books on various topics within the literary genre. Modernism, itself, is hard to define which makes the list of topics with the genre extremely vast. There is also the problem of whether or not the library catalog places these texts under the British or English category.
When it came to deciding which authors to include within the Guide, I found it imperative to look beyond the usual authors associated with British Modernism. I made it a point to include that the Guide includes authors from throughout the British empire, not just the main land. It was important to make this point because authors like C.L.R James, Katherine Mansfield, and Jean Rhys were born outside of the main island and the idea of living on the fringes of society is highly incorporated within their work. Even James Joyce, who is considered one of the main pillars of British Modernism, was born in Ireland and often incorporated his critique on the British empire and how its effect on the colonies in his literary works.
The video section of the Library Guide adds context for a few of the authors. I believe that information about an author’s life provides the researcher with information that helps them further analyze a piece of writing. The other section on journals created by British Modernists was important for this Guide because these journals allowed for modernists to convey their abstract expressions. Here is a link to further explore the British Modernist Writers Guide.
Building Bridges 