Office of Research Services (ORS)

Research Chairs: Irene Gammel

Canada Research Chair in Modern Literature and Culture

Ryerson University
Tier 1

(416) 979-5000 ext. 6588
gammel@ryerson.ca

From Avant-Garde to Mainstream: Catalyzing Culture Shift

In the early 20th century, Lucy Maud Montgomery pushed conventions with her bestselling fiction (including the Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series). At the same time, however, cosmopolitan women in New York, Paris, Berlin, and London took enormous risks with daring experimentations in art and life, without ever enjoying the financial compensation for their work that Montgomery enjoyed for hers.

Some people may be surprised by this juxtaposition, but it forms the crux of the research being done by Professor Irene Gammel, the Canada Research Chair for Modern Literature and Culture. Gammel examines the relationship between the avant-garde and the popular, by focusing on elements of body image and fashion, the relationship between magazine culture and literature, and the relationship between celebrity artists and obscured artists.

In particular, Gammel draws attention to the ways in which avant-garde cultures are used and appropriated by mainstream cultures. Her research focuses on the modernist era, from 1880 to 1940, when the western world was liberating itself from stifling Victorian conventions, and writers were negotiating revolutionary changes in literature and art.

Dr. Gammel’s internationally recognized research forges connections among print, performance, and visual culture. Her establishment of a Modern Culture Multimedia Centre will position Ryerson University at the interface of cutting-edge technology, communication, and mediated artistic experience. The research conducted will support publication of several books and of rare archival materials.

Finally, student training is central to Dr. Gammel’s work, in the belief that the mentoring of the next generation of scholars must be an integral component of research.