It would not appear to be an easy transition to modernity, and it seems to have been conducted in fits and starts and bursts of enthusiasm, whether in literature, fine arts or drama. This
collection of articles closely describes the remarkably short period from 1880 to 1940 when Belgium embraced, at various stages, symbolism, the avant-garde, and surrealism. Contributors address
such phenomena as symbolism in Belgian literature, Maeterlinck's search for music, the artist as an entity between myth and reality, Belgian Black literature, modernity and politics,
representation and subjectivity in Belgian playwrights, Jean Ray's work, photography between the world wars, Herg矇-Simenon in the 1930s, the Belgian avant-garde, national identity and music,
the influence of surrealism and the sad fate of the surrealist revolution, and the splendors of hatred as Louis Scutenaire takes his stand somewhere between surrealism and situationism.
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