---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As for critical writing about modernism…"
description: "\"As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subje..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/will-self-2296_about_as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism_36891.png"
---

#  As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of…

![“As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.” quote by Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/will-self-2296_about_as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism_36891.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/will-self-2296_about_as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism_36891.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/will-self-2296_about_as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism_36891.png)

> “As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.”

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote suggests that critical writing on modernism offers brief, brilliant insights that briefly clarify the otherwise obscure and challenging nature of modernist works.

**In simple terms:** Critical writing provides fleeting clarity.

Key Takeaway

Modernist criticism is often brief yet illuminating.

Themes

modernism critical writing lucidity complexity interpretation

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

analytical critical

When to use this quote

- academic essays
- literary reviews
- seminar discussions

Key Concepts

literary analysis aesthetic difficulty

Practical Applications

- educational curricula
- research publications

Questions to Reflect On

- How can critics balance depth with accessibility?
- What methods reveal modernist meaning without oversimplifying?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Modernism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernism/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [The paradox of modernism is, writers make the decision to work with the continuous present, and to work with... stream of consciousness, as it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/the-paradox-of-modernism-is-writers-make-the-decision-to-work-with/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [Modernism has a reputation for being a forbidding phenomenon: its visual arts disconcertingly non-representational, its literary efforts devoid of the consolations of plot and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/modernism-has-a-reputation-for-being-a-forbidding-phenomenon-its/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [I'm English enough to feel something of a gut-reaction to modernism, to continental philosophising and anything that smacks of a refusal to pay attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-english-enough-to-feel-something-of-a-gut-reaction-to-modernism/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [Photography was seen as the enemy of all the values of late modernism... and as things turned out, it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-bochner/photography-was-seen-as-the-enemy-of-all-the-values-of-late-modernism/)

Mel Bochner

> [Modern paintings often seem to have been made quickly, by comparison with the paintings of earlier centuries, and that seems to give us the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-elkins/modern-paintings-often-seem-to-have-been-made-quickly-by-comparison/)

[James Elkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-elkins/)

> [“Postmodernism has turned into this devil's vortex where no matter what you do, your neck will be turned and your face shoved into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/postmodernism-has-turned-into-this-devil-s-vortex-where-no-matter/)

[Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/)

> [“Being postmodern, however, is about being complicit rather than virtuous, it is about approaching categories like Good and Evil with a certain ironic skepticism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-hollinger/being-postmodern-however-is-about-being-complicit-rather-than/)

Veronica Hollinger

> [“One of the many innovations of modernism was the new demands it placed on the audience. Music, painting, literature, even architecture, would never again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watson/one-of-the-many-innovations-of-modernism-was-the-new-demands-it/)

[Peter Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watson/)

> [“He was in that familiar state - not that the occasion mattered to seriously to him -- of incoherent ideas spreading outward without a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-was-in-that-familiar-state-not-that-the-occasion-mattered-to/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [Altermodern is an in-progress redefinition of modernity in the era of globalisation, stressing the experience of wandering in time, space and mediums. The term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-bourriaud/altermodern-is-an-in-progress-redefinition-of-modernity-in-the-era-of/)

Nicolas Bourriaud

> [A lot of '20s musicals were a hodgepodge of melodrama, mixed with operetta and romance, and then some sense of modernism and some sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-wolfe/a-lot-of-20s-musicals-were-a-hodgepodge-of-melodrama-mixed-with/)

[George C. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-wolfe/)

> [“The first phase of modernism, which so far as the English language goes we associate with Pound and Yeats, Wyndham Lewis and Eliot and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/the-first-phase-of-modernism-which-so-far-as-the-english-language/)

[Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/)

> [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/)

[Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/)

> [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/)

[Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/)

## More by Will Self

> [“As my voice died away I became conscious of the voice of another woman two tables away. I couldn't hear what she was saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-my-voice-died-away-i-became-conscious-of-the-voice-of-another/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [I'm an anarchist. I'm implacably opposed to heirarchical systems of power and control. I also mistrust crowds, as they often operate according to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-an-anarchist-i-m-implacably-opposed-to-heirarchical-systems-of/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [What fiction offers us is an intimacy shorn of the messy contingencies of human existence - gender, race, class or age. Those moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/what-fiction-offers-us-is-an-intimacy-shorn-of-the-messy/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-d-rather-fiddle-with-my-phone-for-precious-seconds-than-neglect-an/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [I'm very happy for whatever plaudits might come the way of my work, but I never ever sit down to write x with y…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-very-happy-for-whatever-plaudits-might-come-the-way-of-my-work/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [As a writer, I'm not convinced that we are the best equipped to understand how we go about the business of literary production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-writer-i-m-not-convinced-that-we-are-the-best-equipped-to/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [“I explained to him - as I withdrew the cup, ripped open the sachet and dunked the tea bag - that tea was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-explained-to-him-as-i-withdrew-the-cup-ripped-open-the-sachet-and/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [There is something mysteriously powerful that can happen when young, inchoate minds come into contact with older and more worldly ones in a spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/there-is-something-mysteriously-powerful-that-can-happen-when-young/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [It would seem that I, who never could make much sense of physics when I was at school, have now gained a strong sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/it-would-seem-that-i-who-never-could-make-much-sense-of-physics-when/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [Drug use and procrastination often go hand in tourniquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/drug-use-and-procrastination-often-go-hand-in-tourniquet/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [“…with the morbid realisation that his sexual being was a dull thing, a lifeless thing, a mass-produced marionette with chipped paint and fraying strings”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/with-the-morbid-realisation-that-his-sexual-being-was-a-dull-thing-a/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [A creative life cannot be sustained by approval any more than it can be destroyed by criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/a-creative-life-cannot-be-sustained-by-approval-any-more-than-it-can/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology 'value for money' in my literary and journalistic work - and nor will I in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-that-bizarre-tautology-value-for-money-in/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

> [Is there anything more useless than a crouton? I sometimes wake up in the small hours with a start and realise that what's roused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/is-there-anything-more-useless-than-a-crouton-i-sometimes-wake-up-in/)

[Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

[Explore all 172 Will Self quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/)

## More About quotes

> [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/)

[Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/)

> [Joking about violence is not funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/joking-about-violence-is-not-funny/)

[Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/)

> [I talk to my mates about our kids, being too tired and being worn out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-willoughby/i-talk-to-my-mates-about-our-kids-being-too-tired-and-being-worn-out/)

[Holly Willoughby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-willoughby/)

> [With 'Pretty Girls,' I saw the opportunity to talk not just about crime but what crime leaves behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/with-pretty-girls-i-saw-the-opportunity-to-talk-not-just-about-crime/)

[Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/)

> [I write about presidents. That means I write about guys - so far. I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/)

[Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/)

> [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/)

[Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/)

> [I learned a lot about myself at Oakmont.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-lowry/i-learned-a-lot-about-myself-at-oakmont/)

[Shane Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-lowry/)

> [I don't think about the press or the crowds or the other leaders of the race. The focus is only on myself. As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/i-don-t-think-about-the-press-or-the-crowds-or-the-other-leaders-of/)

[Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/)

> [Sport is not just about entertainment. It is equally about winning and losing, pooling and galvanising the energy of the youth, upgrading people's physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-ambani/sport-is-not-just-about-entertainment-it-is-equally-about-winning-and/)

[Nita Ambani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-ambani/)

> [One of the ways that I discovered my confidence and my ability to overpower is becoming a mother. Suddenly, my world wasn't about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/one-of-the-ways-that-i-discovered-my-confidence-and-my-ability-to/)

[Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/)

> [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-didn-t-want-to-do-fashion-police-because-i-thought-this-is-stupid/)

[Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/)

> [I just worried about my weight. Worried about my appearance and thought I wan't pretty enough to be a pop star. It was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-durham/i-just-worried-about-my-weight-worried-about-my-appearance-and/)

[Judith Durham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-durham/)

> [I read a couple of books about neuroscience and the relationship between the mind and the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/i-read-a-couple-of-books-about-neuroscience-and-the-relationship/)

[Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/)

> [There are a lot of kids out there copying and distributing movies - not because they care about seeing the movies or sharing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-perry-barlow/there-are-a-lot-of-kids-out-there-copying-and-distributing-movies-not/)

[John Perry Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-perry-barlow/)

> [I have no physical genius about me. I can't dribble a ball and run at the same time, I can't do lay-ups - I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-mullins/i-have-no-physical-genius-about-me-i-can-t-dribble-a-ball-and-run-at/)

[Rich Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-mullins/)

Browse all 26,122 About quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Will Self"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "About"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/will-self-2296_about_as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism_36891.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/will-self-2296_about_as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism_36891.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/will-self-2296_about_as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism_36891.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark…” — Will Self",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Will Self",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "As for critical writing about modernism,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
