While it's hard to pinpoint an exact year, this period saw the emergence of key modernist writers like:
* Gertrude Stein: Her novel "Three Lives" (1909) is often considered a forerunner of American modernism.
* Ezra Pound: He published "A Lume Spento" (1908) and other early works that exhibited modernist tendencies.
* T.S. Eliot: His groundbreaking poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" was published in 1915, marking a significant moment in modernist literature.
* F. Scott Fitzgerald: Although his most famous work, "The Great Gatsby," was published in 1925, he started writing in the 1910s, reflecting the era's modernist themes.
These writers, along with others like William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and Sherwood Anderson, established the core elements of American modernist fiction, including:
* Experimentation with form and structure: Breaking away from traditional narrative conventions.
* Focus on subjective experience: Exploring individual consciousness and perceptions.
* Emphasis on the fragmented nature of modern life: Reflecting the rapid changes and anxieties of the time.
* Use of symbolism and allegory: Adding layers of meaning and interpretation to the text.
So, while the precise year of the first modernist works is debated, the early 20th century is undeniably the era where American modernist fiction took root and flourished.