Decadent movement
5678514
224950214
2008-07-11T03:56:14Z
Lightbot
7178666
Units/dates/other
In 19th century [[European literature|European]] and especially [[French literature of the 19th century|French literature]], [[decadence]] was the name given, first by hostile critics, and then triumphantly adopted by some writers themselves, to a number of late nineteenth century ''[[fin de siècle]]'' writers who were associated with [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] or the [[Aesthetic movement]] and who relished artifice over the earlier Romantics' naïve view of nature (see [[Rousseau]]). Some of these writers were influenced by the tradition of the [[Gothic novel]] and by the poetry and fiction of [[Edgar Allan Poe]].
This concept of decadence dates from the eighteenth century, especially from [[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]], and was taken up by critics as a term of abuse after [[Désiré Nisard]] used it against [[Victor Hugo]] and [[Romanticism]] in general. A later generation of Romantics, such as [[Théophile Gautier]] and [[Charles Baudelaire]] took the word as a badge of pride, as a sign of their rejection of what they saw as banal "progress". In the 1880s a group of [[French literature|French writers]] referred to themselves as decadents. The classic [[novel]] from this group is [[Joris-Karl Huysmans]]' ''[[À rebours|Against Nature]]'', often seen as the first great Decadent work, though others attribute this honor to Baudelaire's works.
In Britain the leading figure associated with the Decadent movement was [[Oscar Wilde]].
As a literary movement, Decadence is now regarded as a transition between [[Romanticism]] and [[Modernism]].
The [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolist movement]] has frequently been confused with the decadent movement. Several young writers were derisively referred to in the press as "decadent" in the mid 1880s. [[Jean Moréas]]' manifesto was largely a response to this polemic. A few of these writers embraced the term while most avoided it. Although the esthetics of Symbolism and Decadence can be seen as overlapping in some areas, the two remain distinct.
== Artists of the decadent movement ==
{{col-start}}
{{col-break}}
* [[Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly]]
* [[Charles Baudelaire|Charles Pierre Baudelaire]]
* [[Franz von Bayros]]
* [[Aubrey Beardsley]]
* [[Max Beerbohm]]
* [[Remy de Gourmont]]
* [[Ernest Dowson]]
* [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]]
* [[J. K. Huysmans]]
* [[Vojislav Ilić]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Comte de Lautréamont]]
* [[Guy de Maupassant]]
* [[Gustave Moreau]]
* [[Edvard Munch]]
* [[Rachilde]]
* [[Odilon Redon]]
* [[Arthur Rimbaud]]
* [[Gérard de Nerval]]
* [[Georges Rodenbach]]
* [[Paul Verlaine]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Félicien Rops]]
* [[Octave Mirbeau]]
* [[Franz von Stuck]]
* [[Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam]]
* [[Oscar Wilde]]
* [[M.P. Shiel]]
* [[Eric Stenbock]]
* [[Arthur Symons]]
* [[Arne Garborg]]
* [[Anton Chekhov]]
{{col-end}}
==Bibliography==
* [[Mario Praz]], ''[[The Romantic Agony]]'', 1930 ISBN 0-19-281061-8
* [[Philippe Jullian]], ''Esthétes et Magiciens'' 1969; ''Dreamers of Decadence'', 1971.
{{Refimprove|date=September 2006}}
{{Schools of poetry}}
[[Category:Decadent literature| ]]
[[Category:Art movements]]
[[Category:Literary movements]]
[[Category:19th century]]
[[Category:Symbolism (arts)]]
[[be:Дэкаданс]]
[[de:Dekadenzdichtung]]
[[es:Decadentismo]]
[[fr:Décadentisme]]
[[it:Decadentismo]]
[[nl:Decadentisme]]
[[ja:デカダン派]]
[[pl:Dekadentyzm]]
[[ru:Декадентство]]