Decadentism

Over the years, a series of different types of cultural movements of all kinds have emerged , among the most recognized we can find decadentism , a movement of literary origin and content whose origins date back to the French people and whose influence managed to remain for many years in the nineteenth century.

Characteristics of decadentism

One of the main characteristics of decadentism focused on the antithesis of the poetic movement belonging to the Parnassians (a literary movement of French origin) who were inspired by classical art. He was always against everything related to morality and sought to evade the reality that was lived daily, exalting, on the other hand, individual heroism , thus exploring the deepest fibers of the human sensitivity and unconscious.

He also sought to highlight the aristocracy , everything fine, the beautiful, the hidden things and the different sensations of the human being. The movement was also characterized by presenting an intense taste for originality, seeking to move away from the models of classical literature , since for them, these only led them to immobility . It was a movement that did not give much importance to the meaning of the words, on the contrary, they did not follow syntax laws, they simply wanted there to be beauty in them. They discarded traditional rhetoric and classicism to find the best way to express the feelings and anguish of the human being.

The movement also had two main tendencies, one of them was based on pessimism, completely rejecting the will to live, considering aesthetics as the only way to achieve true happiness. On the other hand, there was the willful tendency , and in it man was seen as a superior being, who could even be beyond good and evil.

Source

Decadentism has its origins in France and emerged between the 60s and 80s. During the 19th century , this new literary trend emerged as an indirect consequence of Parnassianism as a way of expressing the forbidden, the unpleasant and the strange.

History

The history of this literary movement has been deeply studied and analyzed due to the close union with other different tendencies such as Parnassianism and Aestheticism . Its main exponent was Baudelaire, who established the union and relationship between sounds, colors, the occult and the unity that existed in nature. It is considered that Decadentism bases its history on political causes that occurred in antiquity, however, many decadent originating from France did not use this movement to show the decadence of society, but used it in the field of letters.

Throughout its history, there were many misunderstandings regarding the uses and what the movement wanted to represent. Many experts believe that the movement established the decline in the art and literature of the place. The key moment of its appearance occurred in the year 1868, thanks to Théophile Gautier . In the year 1885, the decadent school was founded in France in which important poets were developed.

Decadence in art

In art, mainly in painting, decadentism included a number of artificial and somewhat strange themes. It was a movement that had different artistic currents, thus producing a revolution both in content and in the way in which art was represented, with a greater number of symbols and aesthetic mystique. In the field of painting, its greatest representatives were the so-called Symbolists, a movement that originated in France.

Literary decadence

In the literary field, Decadentism focused on representing human existence in a pessimistic way and establishing in a morbid way the signs that show the decadence of man , the corruption of morality, cruelty , sick feelings and depravity .

It was linked to sadness , melancholy, tiredness and boredom . It was the way that like-minded artists found to be able to express their desires for superiority because they considered themselves the chosen ones in a world full of perdition.

Mexican decadence

It was during the time of the Porfiriato in Mexico that they began to seek greater growth imitating important places such as France, in such a way that at a certain point, Decadence managed to enter the country. During this stage, many new institutions were opened and the infrastructure of the place grew, but, in the midst of this growth, a series of positions based on the dictatorship as a form of government, on intolerance and the rejection of the opposite also emerged. to order and progress.

In Mexico, the artistic trend was first put into practice by José Juan Tablada, Alberto Leduc, Jesús Valenzuela, Ciro Ceballos and Rubén Campos. It was they, among many others, who decided to adopt the movement in the midst of a society that was based on conservatism , that was full of great prejudices and that, moreover, were attached above all to religion .

The main objective of Mexican artists was to use literature as a means to express and reflect through satires the environment in which they lived using sadism and vices in their writings to show social emancipation . They focused on showing personals that rejected their destiny and were far from reality. They violently displayed their thoughts and had a great drive to achieve all that had been previously denied them.

Importance

The importance of movement is based on the ability of artists to express their feelings and thoughts without being tied to an ancient current, he gave great importance to the correct meaning of words and the search for introspection of the sensations of the unconscious to be able to thus expressing feelings, thoughts and anxieties.

Authors

Among the main authors of Decadentism can be mentioned:

• Jean lombard
• Jane de la Vaudère “Jeanne Scrive”
• Jose Maria Llanas Aguilaniedo
• Ramón María del Valle Inclán
• Salvador Rueda and Santos
• Jose Juan Tablada

Plays

Some works recognized worldwide are the following:

• The Flowers of Evil , by Charles Baudelaire
• Verlaine’s Cursed Poets
• Against the grain of Joris Karl Huysmans
• The Vatard Sisters by Joris-Karl Huysmans
• The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
• Imaginary Portraits of Walter Horatio Pater
• Friendly poems by Giovanni Pascoli