“Unreal City,” where the spirits of the deceased traverse the bridges. Modernism was the first literary movement to embrace urban life as a unique experience, fundamentally distinct from other ways of living. The French symbolist poet Charles Baudelaire was fascinated by the “flaneur”—a person who roams the city aimlessly as a lifestyle. The city's anonymity, darkness, mechanization, and immense power both captivated and repelled the modernists. Interestingly, many modernist writers originated from suburban or small-town areas but were drawn to major urban centers like London, Paris, St. Petersburg, and New York. In these cities, they connected, formed movements, socialized, debated, and eventually went their separate ways.

London initially served as the nucleus of Anglo-American Modernism, but its inherently commercial character eventually drove many writers away. By the 1920s, Paris had become a sanctuary for one of the most significant assemblies of artists in history. As the 1930s loomed and war threatened Europe, the artistic energy shifted westward to New York. Regardless of the location, urban life consistently remained a central theme in modernist literature.

Though James Joyce frequently relocated between Paris, Trieste, and Zurich during his "exile," his writings were always deeply rooted in the vibrant urban life of Dublin. Hart Crane's epic poem "The Bridge" celebrated the Brooklyn Bridge, an engineering marvel symbolizing New York City's significance in American urban culture. T.S. Eliot’s somber poems highlighted the isolation and purposelessness often experienced by city dwellers. The city, with its fusion of technology, dense populations, and anonymity, emerged as a defining element of Modernism.

Alienation describes the sensation of feeling disconnected or out of place within one's surroundings. It can also imply a sense of being separated from something. If the city symbolizes the essence of Modernism, then alienation emerges as its central theme. Modernist literature almost always addresses some aspect of alienation.

Modernism often depicts the alienation of a perceptive individual from their surroundings. The stream-of-consciousness narrative style is especially effective for this, as it allows readers to explore a character's inner thoughts and feelings while observing external events. Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist and alter ego of Joyce, feels isolated from his family, friends, religion, and nation due to his commitment to art and his belief that no one can truly understand or accept him. Virginia Woolf’s female protagonists experience a dual alienation because, as women, they are barred from participating in political, educational, and economic spheres. T.S. Eliot’s narrators, particularly Prufrock in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," confront a fragmented world that contrasts with the apparent composure of others. For Ezra Pound, it is the world itself that has been estranged by greed from its rightful historical heritage.

In the aftermath of collapsing certainties from previous eras, modernist writers viewed the contemporary world as directionless, devoid of both focus and assurance. While these past certainties were oppressive and based on questionable values, they at least offered some societal foundation. The modernist movement sought to dismantle these foundations, a mission completed by the shock of World War I, which exposed humanity's darkest potential. Modernist authors often felt as if they were witnessing the end of history. Consequently, their poems and novels frequently interweave extensive historical timelines. Allusion—concise references to people, places, objects, or even languages and literatures—became a signature modernist method for integrating history. Motivated by deep discomfort with the modern world, these writers consistently referenced the past.

However, this doesn't mean that modernists were uncritical admirers of history. In his poem "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," Ezra Pound mourned that the massive bloodshed of World War I ultimately served to protect "an old [b——] gone in the teeth . . . a botched civilization . . . two gross of broken statues . . . [and] a few thousand battered books." Joyce’s character, Stephen Dedalus, describes history as "a nightmare from which I am trying to awake," depicting Irishmen who cling to past glories as buffoons and fools. Yet, both authors' works are filled with historical references. Indeed, nearly every major modernist writer structured their narratives around the influence of the past. For instance, Pound characterized his work, The Cantos, as "a poem including history," with a list of allusions numbering over ten thousand.