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

Aside from J.-K. Huysmans A rebours , another work was also instrumental in sparking my appreciation for French fin-de-siecle literature: the novella Bruges-la-Morte by Georges Rodenbach (author pictured). It’s an example of Symbolist literature, a movement which appears to have run concurrently with Decadence. I’m not entirely clear what the exact differences between the two movements are, and I often sense they overlap considerably. As with Decadent literature, Rodenbach's style is wordy and ornate, as if he is luxuriating in descriptions, vocabulary, and language.  Stylistically, however, Bruges-la-Morte falls halfway between poetry and prose. Imagery (symbols) convey more meaning than plot or characterization, and the novel maintains a darkly dreamlike tonality even when Rodenbach is describing something like a dance hall. How much of this is due to adherence to the Symbolist credo and how much is Rodenbach’s own style I’m not entirely sure, but I tend to think it’s more...

Warning: This book is not by a French author! Studies of Death  by Count Eric Stenbock (pictured) was one of the first works of Decadence I purchased. I hadn’t yet become taken by the movement when I did. My motive was that Halloween was approaching, and I wanted to read ghost stories and tales of horror from 19th Century authors. As mentioned in my post about Where to Start, this slender collection of short stories is a wonderful entree into Decadent fiction. While only one of the stories satisfied my Halloween itch, the collection went a long way in hooking me on Decadent fiction. The first study of death is “Hylas”, an imagistic combination of homoeroticism and art appreciation with the gentle pacing of a reverie and ends with a singular image. “Narcissus” leverages its title myth symbolistically but takes a decided twist in its unfolding. Meanwhile, “The True Story of a Vampire” is fascinating not only as a gothic tale but as a pre- Dracula vampire story. The plots and narrati...

I asked this question after first dipping my toe in French Decadent literature. Fact is: There are no obvious starting points. No monolithic writers that scream to be read first. No Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Honoré de Balzac, or Emile Zola. And even though J.-K. Huysmans’ A rebours is the movement’s bible and was one of the first books I read, I’m not sure I’d recommend it as a starting point. (Drawing: Henri Charles Guerard, Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac 1894) Luckily, there was a booming, highly-competitive newspaper industry in fin de siècle France. [For a peek into this world, read Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant]. Writers who could draw in readers were paid by the word, and the sensationalistic, lurid, and/or purposefully shocking style of Decadent fiction was perfect for that task. Many Parisian writers made a living churning out content for newspapers with the result that the short story seems to enjoy greater emphasis in Decadent literature than other literary moveme...

One challenging aspect of this blog will be posting reactions to works I’m currently reading, as well as attempting to retrace my path as I initially became interested in Decadent literature (with recommendations for good and not-so-good places to start). I’ll need to be clear which posts are which! I recently finished Robert Scheffer’s novella Prince Narcissus (1896). It’s an outstanding example of a recurring motif in Decadent literature: a fabulously wealthy, handsome, intellectual young man of high position alienated by the vulgarity and stupidity of contemporary human society. Scheffer’s protagonist, Prince Mitrophane Moreano, becomes fascinated by his own beauty and - not surprisingly if you’ve read much Decadent literature - fascination soon becomes neurotic obsession.  As Moreano ages and tries to preserve his looks or delude himself about them, Prince Narcissus becomes a deliciously morbid gothic tale about the cruelty of mortality. Moreano is forever comparing his own d...

Since my first post cited Joris-Karl Huysmans' A rebours ( Against Nature or Against the Grain ) as my entree to Decadent literature, it seems sensible to blog about it right off the bat. Without question, A rebours is the Decadent novel and a must read if you're interested in the Decadent movement or French fin de siecle literature in general. That said, as fascinating and well-written as I found it, it’s not easy going. Note: I read Margaret Mauldon's translation published by Oxford and found it very accessible. (The painting at right is Portrait of J.-K. Huysmans by Adolphe Erneste Gumery, painted in 1884 - the year A rebours was published). A rebours is about Jean Des Esseintes, a wealthy aristocratic fop (the contemporary term was 'dandy'). He and his friends roam Paris indulging their sexual and sensual whims until Des Esseintes literally burns out on life in the fast lane. Disgusted with human society, he retreats to a house outside Paris and seals him...

Jean Lorrain (pictured). Octave Mirbeau. Rachilde. J.-K. Huysmans. These are not the first names that spring to mind when one thinks of French literature. In fact, most people have never heard of them, let alone read their work. Their writing was concentrated between the mid-1880’s and the first years of the 20th Century, a span of time when Naturalism was waning but Modernism had not yet risen. This period is commonly referred to as the French fin de siecle (end of century).  Major literary figures were active during the fin de siecle, but their oeuvres were rooted in the Naturalism which came before it. They certainly don’t embody the Modernism of its aftermath in any meaningful way. Meanwhile, the fin de siecle authors mentioned above and their contemporaries are either shoehorned into these two broad periods or positioned as odd residual bursts of Romanticism.  I find neither treatment satisfying. There is a yawning chasm between Naturalism’s journalistic slice of life and...