Apostles of Modernity

Book excerpt: In a revisionist account that takes "development" as its main theme, Guy Reynolds charts the responses of novelists, travel writers, and literary intellectuals to America's deepening engagement in world affairs following World War II." "Apostles of Modernity offers an original, in-depth study of the literary manifestations of this period of globalism in novels, memoirs, essays, reportage, and political commentary. Through close readings of texts Reynolds revisits and reassesses U.S. internationalism, showing how writers and intellectuals engaged with a cluster of topics: decolonization, the rise of the Third World, Islamic difference, the end of European empires, China's enduring significance, and transatlantic and cosmopolitan identities." "A contribution to the study of literary internationalism, Apostles of Modernity establishes new paradigms for understanding America's place in the world and the world's place in America.