The paper "From Liquidation to Liberation: The Lyric in Modernist Poetry" by Shahin, Sultana, and Singh (2021) investigates the transformation and significance of the lyric in Modernist poetry. Traditionally, the lyric has served as a medium for personal emotions and individual expression, but in the context of Modernism, it also reflects the crisis of the Modernist individual. The authors argue that the destabilized condition of individuals in the modern world, exacerbated by industrialization and the devaluation of human labor, is echoed in the evolution of the lyric.
In response to the Nihilism prevalent in the Modernist era, the lyric evolves from its Romantic roots to confront and combat these existential challenges. The breakdown of the traditional lyric form pushes poets toward alternative forms like the long poem, but the lyric's labor ultimately rescues poetry from sliding into Nihilism. The paper, organized into seven sections, provides historical context and analyzes works by poets such as Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, H.D., and E.E. Cummings, exploring how their lyric poetry navigates and resists the challenges of the Modernist condition.