Decadence, symbolism and fin-de-siècle
Another perspective on turn-of-the-century terminology, as a prelude to a couple of longer texts about the English poet John Gray to follow.
Fin de siècle, to begin with, can be seen as a more general term describing the state of mind that characterized the turn of the century. The highly generalizing and slightly exaggerated description in the Swedish Litteraturhistoriens grundbegrepp gives the typical picture:
“[the decadents] who, in the wake of the Romantics, cultivated world-weariness an…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to I lock my door upon myself to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.