From the Boer War to the Great War, and from the Russo-Japanese conflict to the Amritsar Massacre and anti-colonial uprisings, modernism and modernity are shaped by processes of upheaval and reconstruction. While modernism is often treated as an artistic and literary movement characterized by conflict, violence, and despair, it nonetheless strove towards renewed hope and positive transformation. At the centenary of the 1919 peace conference, the Modernist Studies Association (MSA) Toronto 2019 Conference invites considerations on the processes of upheaval and reconstruction, and prompts reexaminations of modernism and modernity at various times and across global spaces.
 

Hosted by Ryerson University’s Modern Literature and Culture (MLC) Research Centre, in collaboration with the University of Toronto, York University, and OCAD University (formerly the Ontario College of Art and Design).