Global modernist studies: Asian perspectives

Abstract

Bringing together a polyphony of voices from Asia, this special issue seeks to contribute to a more nuanced picture of modernist histories and practices during both the heyday of modernism in the arts in the early twentieth century and the present day, when the new modernist studies keeps refreshing conceptions of modernism across multiple spatiotemporal scales. With case studies situated in Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and India, the issue aims to be illustrative rather than comprehensive in terms of its focus, scope, and approaches. Addressing conceptual, institutional, and pedagogical aspects of modernist practices across various sites of Asia, this cluster of essays offers new data and fresh perspectives, from which we can examine how an internally diverse region like Asia simultaneously uncovers the intricate complexities of global modernist studies and furnishes possibilities to rethink, or even reshape, its ongoing development.