Decadence
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225551870
2008-07-14T07:41:11Z
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/* Modern culture and decadence */
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'''Decadence''' can refer to a personal trait, or to the state of a society (or segment of it). Used to describe a person's lifestyle, it describes a lack of moral and intellectual [[discipline]], or in the [[Concise Oxford Dictionary|COD]] : `a luxurious self-indulgence`. In a society, it describes corrosive [[decline]] due to a perceived erosion of necessary [[Morality|moral]] [[tradition]]s. (A society that discards unnecessary and outmoded values would not be considered decadent, although perceptions of "unnecessary and outmoded" significantly vary.) Due to arguments over the nature of [[morality]], whether a society is decadent or not is a matter of debate, though certain [[history|historical]] societies (such as [[ancient Rome]] near its end) are generally held to have been decadent, as decadence often leads to objective decline.
Decadent societies are often prosperous but usually have severe social and economic [[inequality]], to such a degree that the [[upper class]] becomes either complacent or greedy, while the [[lower class]]es become hopeless and apathetic. The [[middle class]] may exhibit either or both patterns, or it may vanish entirely. Poor leadership is generally held to be both a cause and a symptom of decadence, as the lifestyle of a decadent individual is usually considered to be incompatible with responsibility. Applied to the arts, decadence implies an elevation of self-indulgence and pretension over [[effort]] and [[talent]]; when applied to science and the professions, it describes an erosion of [[professional ethics]]. Individual or collective [[greed]] is generally disliked in societies with strong moral beliefs, and for this reason, societies that nurture it are sometimes accused of decadence.
Societies that persist in a state of decadence may become unable or unwilling to commit to their own upkeep and fall into decline. One historical perspective on ancient Rome is that it became decadent due to a succession of unstable emperors like [[Nero]] and [[Commodus]]. While they ruled centuries before the [[fall of Rome]], their leadership may have played a role in its decline. This point of view may also be biased by later interpretation; beyond his unpredictability [[Nero]] was also viewed as a generous ruler{{Fact|date=November 2007}} and was popular with the lower class during his reign. [[Caligula]] only reigned a few years. [[Machiavelli]] attributed Roman decadence to the rise of [[Christianity]]{{Fact|date=November 2007}}. See also: [[Roman decadence]].
Contemporary [[post-industrial society|post-industrial societies]] such as the [[United States]] and [[Western Europe]] are sometimes accused of decadence, the argument being that [[consumerism]], [[materialism]], and [[selfishness]] have eroded traditional moral values of community, democracy, and the work ethic. Some critics, like [[James Howard Kunstler]], have alleged that American decadence has reached such a degree that the society is or will be unable to solve its own environmental and [[ecology|ecological]] problems. In "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It", writer [[Mark Steyn]] argues that decadent lifestyles in the [[developed world]] (with the sole exception of the [[United States]]) have led to demographic and social decay.
In literature, the [[Decadent movement]]—late nineteenth century ''[[fin de siècle]]'' writers who were associated with [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] or the [[Aesthetic movement]]—was first given its name by hostile critics, and then the name was triumphantly adopted by some writers themselves. These "decadents" relished artifice over the earlier Romantics' naive view of nature (see [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]). Some of these writers were influenced by the tradition of the [[Gothic novel]] and by the poetry and fiction of [[Edgar Allan Poe]].
[[Oscar Wilde]] gave a curious definition: "[[Classicism]] is the subordination of the parts to the whole; decadence is the subordination of the whole to the parts." By this definition, [[Charles Dickens]] would qualify as decadent,{{Fact|date=November 2007}} because his "minor" characters often obscure the "major" ones—or at least are more interesting than them. For example, consider Mrs [[Sarah Gamp]] in ''[[Martin Chuzzlewitt]].''
==Leninist use==
Vladimir [[Lenin]] continued and extended the use of the word "decadence" in his theory of [[imperialism]] to refer to economic matters underlying political manifestations. According to Lenin, [[capitalism]] had reached its highest stage and could no longer provide for the general development of society. He expected reduced vigor in economic activity and a growth in unhealthy economic phenomena, reflecting capitalism's gradually decreasing capacity to provide for social needs and preparing the ground for [[socialist]] revolution in the [[Western world|West]]. Politically, [[World War I]] proved the decadent nature of the advanced capitalist countries to Lenin, that [[capitalism]] had reached the stage where it would destroy its own prior achievements more than it would advance.
Followers of [[Trotsky]] have split over the extent to which to uphold [[Lenin]] as against Trotsky's theory of [[permanent revolution]]. However, followers of [[Stalin]] have generally defended the "decadence" thesis of Lenin's theory of imperialism against [[Trotskyists]]. Trotskyists tend to stress that capitalism in the West is still [[progressivism|progressive]] and marching forward technologically with the steady accumulation of capital. They thereby show their fundamentally anti-Leninist, anti-working class stance. Followers of Lenin such as [[Mao]] and [[Stalin]] have argued that there is nothing left for [[imperialism]] to do but die, because it has nothing progressive to contribute anymore.
One who directly opposed the idea of decadence as expressed by Lenin was [[José Ortega y Gasset]] in ''[[The Revolt of the Masses]]'' (1930). He argued that the "[[mass man]]" had the notion of material progress and scientific advance deeply inculcated to the extent that it was an expectation. He also argued that contemporary progress was opposite the true decadence of the [[Roman Empire]].
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2007}}
==Modern culture and decadence==
* The American rock band [[Motley Crue]] named one of their albums [[Decade of decadence]]
* The novels ''[[Brideshead Revisited]]'' and ''[[Vile Bodies]]'' by [[Evelyn Waugh]] examine the decadence of the British [[aristocracy]] in the 1920s and 1930s.
* The British pop group [[Pet Shop Boys]] wrote a song called and about "Decadence". Originally it was a B-side on their 1994 single "Liberation", but can now be found on the b-side collection ''[[Alternative (album)|Alternative]]'' and the 2001 2-disc release of their album ''[[Very (album)|Very]]''.
* [[Douglas Coupland]], in his novel [[Microserfs]] makes a list of "Decadent breakfast cereals"
* The American band [[Disturbed]] released a song called "Decadence" on their album "[[Ten Thousand Fists]]"
* The Finnish band [[Children of Bodom]] released a song called "Children Of Decadence" on their album [[Follow The Reaper]]. They also mention it in a couple of their song lyrics, such as the song: [[Living Dead Beat]] (As long as the twilight veils, The decadence we embrace)
* Japanese band [[Dir en grey]] released a song called "mazohyst of decadence" on their album [[Gauze (album)|GAUZE]].
* Japanese trance group [[Schwarz Stein]] released a song called "Queen of Decadence" on their New Vogue Children album.
* [[Decadence (album)|Decadence]] was the title of the first album released by the [[Daryl Palumbo]]-fronted band [[Head Automatica]].
* Decadence was aptly used to name the 10th anniversary beer of Valley Brewing Company in Stockton, Ca. as well as a line of Belgian Style Belgian beers that are being brewed at Valley Brewing Company. The Decadence name has subsequently been used by several other brewers to commemorate their own 10th anniversary beers.
* [[Decaydance Records]], a play on the word, is the name of [[Pete Wentz]]'s imprint label under [[Fueled by Ramen]]
* "Drink up sweet decadance" is a lyric in the song "Good Enough" on the album 'The Open Door' by Evanescence.
* "From the mouth of decadence" is a lyric in the Temple of Dog song entitled "Hunger Strike."
* "Decadence" is a film starring Joan Collins.
* The British hardcore punk band [[Discharge (band)|Discharge]] released a song called "Corpse of Decadence" on their self-titled album [[Discharge (Discharge album)|Discharge]]
* Swiss Technical Thrash metal band Coroner released a CD named "Punishment For Decadence" in 1988.
==Further reading==
* Richard Gilman, ''Decadence: The Strange Life of an Epithet''. ISBN 0-374-13567-3
* Matei Calinescu, ''Five Faces of Modernity''. ISBN 0-8223-0767-7
* [[Mario Praz]], ''The Romantic Agony'' (1930). ISBN 0-19-281061-8
* [[Jacques Barzun]], [[From Dawn to Decadence]] (2000). ISBN 0-06-017586-9
* A. E. Carter, The Idea of Decadence in French Literature (1978). ISBN 0-8020-7078-7
== External links ==
* [http://www.boheme-magazine.net/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=283 The Decadent Generation]
* [http://libcom.org/library/decadence-aufheben-2 A Contribution Towards a Critique of the Theory of Decadence] (Leninist use)
*[http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/symbolist/texts/decadence_chronology.html Chronology of Decadence]
*[http://www.turksheadreview.com/library/decadence.html Decadence, symbolist, and the fin de siècle: a notebook]
[[Category:Art movements]]
[[Category:Modern art]]
[[Category:Ethics]]
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