Yes, you can use italics for that, but if you do, you need to make sure that you don't use them for other things, or you will confuse your readers. And make sure you make it clear what is going on the first few times you do it, so that the readers get it before you make it more subtle.
In a novel, can you put song titles in italics?
Second Thoughts - Michel Butor novel - was created in 1957.
Before we had italics, it had to be quotation marks, but now, I think italics is sufficient, particularly if you are referring to it as a source. Maybe different rules for published treatises.
Stream-of-consciousness writing, fragmented narrative structure, and a focus on internal thoughts and emotions would be elements most likely to appear in a modernist novel.
According to MLA formatting, novels require underlining or italics.
A novel contains thoughts and effective language. It can also have history.
Faber & Faber publish Lord of the Flies.
Catcher in the Rye.
Closeness to characters' thoughts
The writer's thoughts and feelings
If you sell your book to a publisher, they pay you. That's what publishing is all about.
Harper Lee almost destroyed her chances of publishing her novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by losing the entire manuscript in a suitcase. Thankfully, her editor persuaded her to rewrite it, leading to its eventual publication and success.