This work investigates the intersection of modernist aesthetics and the concept of the primitive, arguing that the avant-garde utilized the idea of prehistory to disrupt traditional temporal and artistic boundaries. Jed Rasula, a scholar of modernist literature and culture, employs a wide-ranging interdisciplinary framework to examine how early 20th-century artists and writers engaged with anthropological and archaeological discoveries. By analyzing the tension between the hyper-modern and the primordial, the author posits that modernism was fundamentally shaped by a recursive relationship with deep time.

Scholars frequently cite this text for its rigorous synthesis of cultural history and aesthetic theory, noting the high density of its academic prose. It is widely regarded as a significant contribution to the study of how modernist movements negotiated their relationship with historical and prehistoric narratives.