Decadence: Obscure literature of the fin de siecle and Belle Epoque - and other literary obsession

Years ago, prior to my interest in French Decadent literature, I'd read several of Baudelaire’s poems out of curiosity. My reaction was: interesting voice, powerful poet, but a little of him goes a long way.  Two things led me back to Baudelaire. First, his name kept cropping up in Decadent novels and short stories, as well as in essays about the movement. He was held up both as an exemplar of the Decadent mindset as well as a key inspiration or forerunner of the movement. Second, the next work in my project of reading J.-K. Huysmans’ novels in order of publication was his collection of prose poems: Parisian Sketches (1880). Since prose poems aren’t my favorite form, I figured reading Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil (1857) would be a great introduction and perhaps help me better appreciate Parisian Sketches . I purchased the New Directions edition of Flowers of Evil , edited by Marthiel and Jackson Mathews, which compiles a slew of translators from Aldous Huxley and Edna St. Vincent

My sub-assignment of reading J.-K. Huysmans’ novels in order of publication now takes me to Naturalist anthology Evenings at Médan (1880). Its six stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71), a stunning defeat so embarrassing to France that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pales by comparison. Oddly, some cite the year of this defeat as the beginning of the Belle Epoque in which France’s culture and economy soared on a wave of optimism.  The authors collected in the anthology contributed one story each, and all are disciples of Emile Zola. Having read novels by half of them, I gave myself a sub-sub-assignment of seeking out translations of all six stories (the anthology itself is not available in an English volume). Huysmans’ contribution is “Knapsacks”, a satirical tale of ne’er-do-well Parisian Eugene Lejantel who is conscripted at the start of the war. Due to the army’s disorganization (a central cause of its humiliating defeat in reality), the conscripts immediately contr

As a side assignment within my French Decadent immersion, I’m reading J.-K. Huysmans’ novels in their published order. Since Huysmans kicked-off the French Decadent movement with A rebours ( Against Nature or Against the Grain ), I figured exploring his progression from Naturalism to Decadence might be useful insight into the latter movement. His second novel is The Vatard Sisters (1879). The Naturalism movement to which Huysmans belonged dismissed the idealistic, impassioned works of Romanticism as cotton candy. I like to think, for example, that the lingering influence of Naturalism is what makes us roll our eyes at drippy sentimentality or pat happy endings in movies or books. Naturalism called out such devices as phony, preferring to depict life as it was. Authors conducted extensive research to create an accurate ‘slice of life’ and did not shy away from subject matter considered taboo in polite society.  Huysmans’ 1876 debut ( Marthe: The Story of a Whore ) didn’t sell, but it

The Red Sorcerer is the third novel I’ve read by late-Decadent author Delphi Fabrice, and it presents some difficulty in interpretation. French Decadence is typically viewed as a fin de siècle phenomenon, which means that, literally, it ended on the last day of 1899. Literarily speaking, one can easily make a case for Decadence extending a few years into the 20th Century. The Red Sorcerer was published in 1910, well after either definition. So is it Decadent literature? More fundamentally, is it literature? In his introduction, translator Brian Stableford reveals The Red Sorcerer was “published as a 64-part feuilleton serial in Le Journal”. The feuilleton was a lurid, cliffhanger-laden genre of French fiction presented in serial format by newspapers of the time. Its purpose was to hook readers into buying future editions of the newspaper to find out “what happens next”. As such, it’s hardly a genre that promises high culture. There’s even good reason to question whether Fabrice himse

My Blue Notebooks (Tacher) is one of three books available in English by fin de siècle demimonde celebrity and author Liane de Pougy. The other two are her semi-autobiographical first and second novels, L’insaisissable and Idylle saphique . My Blue Notebooks are de Pougy’s posthumously published journals/memoirs, and they are a fantastic read, an engrossing time capsule, and the compelling spiritual journey of a woman who lived more life than twenty people combined. When she began journaling in 1919, de Pougy’s life as one of Paris’ most feted courtesans was behind her. Almost a decade earlier, she’d formed a romantic relationship with Prince Georges Ghika of Romania, and they were married. de Pougy was 41 and he was 24 so, even in the honorable institution of marriage, she managed to scandalize. de Pougy, however, seems to have been remarkably grounded about the whole thing.  As one reads My Blue Notebooks , it’s easy to see why. Not much would faze someone whose life was a revolvi

As mentioned in a prior post, my path into Decadent literature was partially through reading Modernist works by openly - or as open as they could be - gay men. French avant-garde author Andre Gide (1869 - 1951) was one such. He had an additional draw in that he influenced modern masters like Sartre and Camus. The Immoralist (1902) was the first Gide novel I’d read (Modern Library edition, translated by Richard Howard). Aside from being a brilliant writer, Gide's life - even in overview - is a fascinating story of a man who continually found himself outside the norms of society and culture norms. A gay man who enjoyed an active romantic life, despite the bigotry of the time, he married a woman in an apparently asexual relationship and had a brief affair with Oscar Wilde in 1895. After a period of intellectual inactivity, he founded a literary magazine in 1908. In 1916, when Gide was 47, he left his wife for a 15-year-old boy. They were together for 11 years and travelled through Afr

As mentioned in a previous post, J.-K. Huysmans’ novel A rebours ( Against Nature or Against the Grain ) is widely regarded as perhaps the key moment in the development of Decadent literature. While there were novels about dandies and their cynical angst before it, A rebours seems to have fully crystallized the Decadent trope of a wealthy, cultured dandy as an alienated commentator on fin de siècle society.  Given the impact of A rebours , it occurred to me - as a side project in my decadent reading frenzy - to read Huysmans’ novels in their order of publication to see if I could track his progression from Naturalist disciple to Decadent firestarter. This might provide some insight into the development of the Decadent movement, as well as where and how Decadent literature broke away from Naturalism and the other schools that came before it. My project didn’t start well. Huysmans’ first book, Le drageoir aux épices (1874), is not available in English. However, it was a collection of