Since the 1980s, there has been a growing interest in rewriting the history of literature, the arts, and the humanities by placing it within a broader cultural context (see, e.g., Arnulf Nünning, Geschichte der englischen Literatur; Linda Hutcheon & Mario J. Valdés, Rethinking Literary History; Alain Vaillant, L'histoire littéraire). In many respects the eras of modernism and the historical avant-garde provide rich terrain for such an endeavor. Among the points of departure are approaches to transnationality and cultural transfer (nation and nationalism, racial memory, colonialism and postcolonialism), the dialogue of the arts and other disciplines, the reciprocal effects of text and image, as well as the increasing proximity of social history (historicization of literary communication) and aesthetic-theoretical approaches.
