Abstract
French symbolism and decadentism were not one unified literary school, but two different schools that opposed each other. Decadentism focused on the depiction of pathological feelings represented by the neurosis, and the invention of delicate phrasing following with it. In the process of the formation of decadent school, the neurosis always occupied an important position; it was not only a paradigm of decadent feelings, but also a microcosm of decadent aesthetics. In order to get rid of the morally and aesthetically shameful impression of the neurosis, Jean Moréas advocated a new school which was called symbolism. Moréas and his symbolist school focused on a series of formalist practices, such as “the sensible forms”, “the verbal music”, and free verse, which led to a split between the symbolists and the decadent poets. Faced with the competition of the superiority of literary schools, the decadent Anatole Baju found a rational basis for the psychology of the neurosis from the perspective of social evolution, stabilizing the emotional route that the decadents practiced, which he defined as “le décadisme”. Baju and Paul Verlaine also deepened the meaning of decadentism by giving it the function of resisting the literary and moral conception of a decadent society. The split between symbolism and decadentism not only created an almost new symbolism, but also consolidated the literary characteristics of decadentism.
Keywords
symbolism, decadentism, the neurosis, Anatole Baju, Jean Moréas
First Page
195
Last Page
204
Recommended Citation
Li, Guohui. 2025. "The Neurosis and the Split between the French Symbolism and Decadentism." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (2): pp.195-204. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss2/19
