Language, Individual & Society, Volume 17, 2023

Abstract: C.S. Lewis lived during the turbulent 20th century, a time when literature was divided between the modernists, who sought to innovate the art of writing, and the anti-modernists, conservative writers who tried to keep the classical values of the past. This paper intends to analyse the way Lewis approached the dominant literary movement of his times, modernism, both in his theoretical writings and in his fiction. It brings examples from a large variety of sources, including not only his literary essays, articles or academic works, but also his greatly loved Chronicles of Narnia or The Space Trilogy. The discussion it instigates helps better understand this author’s place inside (or outside) the literary canon and the reasons behind such a categorisation. Its novelty lies in the way it examines the primary material and especially in the question it raises: how can we situate Lewis related to his times, as an adherent to the modernist creed or a dissident?