Decadence, Symbolism, Impressionism, Imagism, Surrealism, Futurism.

Decadence:
The decadent movement followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artificiality, and it was a
reaction to a received loss of cultural standards. It was in 1884 that a specific group of writers
were referred to as decadents and these were heavily influenced by the works of Baudlaire and
Gothic literature. Decadent literature encompassed poetry, novels and short fiction.
The decadents favored art and artifice over the natural world and in this respect were closely
aligned to the symbolist and aesthetic movements of the same period.
The Gothic offshoot of romantic fiction, especially the work of Edgar Allen Poe was a major
inspiration to the decadents, Baudlaire translated Poe’s works into French.
Between 1850 and 1890 the concept of decadence developed principally through the work of
the poet Charles Baudelaire, the critic Théophile Gautier and the novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans
as a critique of urban modernity. Living at a time when political, cultural, and scientific
revolutions had swept across Europe, these writers were disgusted by overcrowding, poverty,
and rampant commercialism.
Cultural anxiety about urbanization was not exclusive to decadence, the romantics had
contemplated the city in its hellish forms and realist writers had dissected the city’s ills in their
novels about French society, but in the work of French decadent writers we encounter a
profound scepticism about modernity and progress.
Decadent writers were not entirely hostile to modernity. however, While

Baudelaire found the accelerated rate of urban change deeply disconcerting, he took
pleasurable advantage of the new fashions and manners of metropolitan life.
The economic expansion and development of European cities led to rapid urbanization, but by
far the largest transformation occurred in the city of Paris.
People were uprooted as homes and shops were demolished to build new commercial sites
Among the many welcome innovations were new sewers, gas lighting, public parks, traffic on
vacant roads, wide avenues and boulevards, but the poor were marginalized, creating clear
boundaries between the rich and the slums.
Symbolism:
The symbolist movement in literature originated during the 1850s in France and lasted until
about 1900.
Symbolism exerted a profound influence on 20th century literature, bridging the transition from
Realism to Modernism. Symbolism also exerted a strong influence on the arts, including theater,
painting, and music.
The symbolists sought to convey very personal, irrational, and dream-like states of
consciousness, relying heavily on metaphorical language to approximate, or symbolize, an
eternal essence of being that, they believed, was abstracted from the scope of the five senses.
These literary ideals developed as a reaction against the dominance of positivism, which
emphasized rational thought, objectivity, and scientific method.
Symbolism also represented a reaction against Realism and Naturalism in literature, which
sought to accurately represent the external world of nature and human society through
descriptions of objective reality.
Stylistically, the symbolists emphasized the inherent musicality of language, developed the use
of vers libre (free verse), and modernized the existing form of the prose poem.
The symbolists were greatly influenced by the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, whose “Flowers of
Evil” embodied many of their literary ideals.
French Symbolism affected international literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in
particular inspiring the Russian symbolist movement, which developed in the 1880s.
The literature of Germany, Great Britain, Japan, the United States, and Turkey was also
influenced by Symbolism. Though poetry dominated the symbolist movement, great works of
fiction and drama were also written by adherents of Symbolism.
Impressionism:
Impressionism is an artistic movement heralded in the 1870s in France. Impressionists always

seek to capture a feeling or experience rather than to depict accurate depiction and perfection.
Impressionism Characteristics:
Characteristically impressionist painting include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes,
ordinary subject matter, and unusual visual angles. They were always against the rules of
academic painting. Among the impressionist painter van Gogh and Renoir come in front.
Painters, however, aren’t the only artists whose work is impressionistic. There are several
authors who also can be placed in this “school,” including Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, and
Henry James.
Impressionism in Literature:
In literature, impressionist writers exhibit some special traits:
1. Narrative style and ambiguous meaning are the hallmarks of impressionistic literature. The
narrator gives the readers more scope to think, judge and conclude, rather than depending upon
him.
2. They often describe the action through the eyes of the character while the events are
occurring, rather than providing minute details. All of the details seem unclear.
3. They’re concerned with the “emotional landscape” of the setting. They always want to sketch
such a natural background when natural phenomena look pale and weird at the time of suffering
and agony of the characters.
4. They exercise details in such a way that it’s sometimes difficult to see a clear picture of
events if one focuses on the details too closely. If readers stand back from the novel he will get
the full picture.
5. They often avoid chronological telling of events. Instead they give the readers information in a
way that forces them to focus on how and why things happen, rather than on the order in which
they occur.
Post Impressionism:
Post impressionism originated in France in the late 19th century. The major artist of post
impressionism artist include Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne
Imagism (early 20th century):

It favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. As a poetic style it gave modernism
its start in the early 20th century, and it is considered to be the first organized literary movement
in the English language.
Surrealism (1920s - 1930s):

An avant-garde movement, based primarily in France, that sought to break down the boundaries
between rational and irrational, conscious and unconscious through a variety of literary and
artistic experiments.
Futurism:
Futurism was an Italian art movement of the early 20th century that aimed to capture in art the
dynamism and energy of the modern world. Futurism sought to sweep away what they believed
were outdated, traditional notions about art. Instead, they wanted to replace these with an
energetic celebration of machine age.
The key focus was to represent a dynamic vision of the future. As such, they often portrayed
urban landscapes and new technologies including trains, cars and airplanes.
They glorified speed, violence, and the working classes, believing they would advance change.

Decadence, Symbolism, Impressionism, Imagism, Surrealism, Futurism.

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Decadence, Symbolism, Impressionism, Imagism, Surrealism, Futurism.

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Decadence, Symbolism, Impressionism, Imagism, Surrealism, Futurism.

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Decadence:

Decadent writers were not entirely hostile to modernity. however, While

Impressionism is an artistic movement heralded in the 1870s in France. Impressionists always

Imagism (early 20th century):

Surrealism (1920s - 1930s):

You might also like