What is decadence and what is its position in the literature today?

Raising the question of what decadence is, one should conduct a study of the history of the appearance of the definition itself. And this concept was born in France, and the words "decline" and "decay" serve as its translation. By digging deeper, you can find the root of this word in the Latin notation of the fall. So what is decadence? Who and where falls and what decomposes? And in general, with respect to whom or what should this concept be used?

It turns out that decadence is a direction in art. Sometimes this word refers to the behavior of a person whose views correspond to decadence. This trend arose at the turn of the twentieth century, when the historic upheaval of social life pushed creative people to rethink their creative positions. During this period of crisis social phenomena among the people began to wander decadent moods, rejection of life in general, the tendency of individualism and feelings of despair and hopelessness. Art as it were found a way out of the rejection of the political and civil life of society, deciding that this position - the only true, giving real freedom to creativity. Therefore, to the question, what is decadence, you can also give another answer: escape from reality, refusal to reflect politics and citizenship in your work.

So what do decadents display then? Favorite themes in this artistic direction are death and non-existence, longing for ideals and spirituality, a dream of a beautiful future beyond reality. This direction developed in the most diverse spheres of art. Did not pass it and literature. What is decadence in literature?

Many art critics, considering this direction, use such terms as "neo-romanticism", "modernism" and "symbolism". But it should be noted that all of them can not fully illuminate decadence, being often only a part of the general movement. It is believed that the decadence in literature dates back to the 18th century, the founder of which is called Montesquieu, and the next successor - writer and critic from France Desiree Nizard.

However, many critics did not like literature of this kind, and they practically made the word "decadence" offensive, Victor Hugo's herbs and romanticism in general. However, time has shown that the works of both Hugo and the adherent of the direction of Edgar Allan Poe, considered by us, are still read with enthusiasm by modern people. Not forgotten by us and Charles Baudelaire, and Theophilus Gautier, who made from the word-insult the word used as an honorary sign.

They considered decadence a denial of "banal progress." Among the Russian decadents of the "older generation" (1880 - 1890), such famous poets and writers as A. Dobrolyubov, F. Sologub, K. Balmont, I. Konevskaya, Zinaida Gippius, D. Merezhkovsky and "early" Bryusov. Modernism in Russia was also represented by the pre-symbolist M.Minskiy, the prose writer LN Andreev, I.F. Annensky.

Subsequently, the ideas of decadence laid the foundation for many other modernist currents in literature. They are reflected in A. Blok and A. Akhmatova, V. Bryusov and V. Kandinsky, I. Stravinsky and many others, now called classics of Russian literature.

In our time, this current begins its new spiral of flourishing. In February of the last year of the last millennium, Marusya Klimova (writer) and Timur Novikov (artist) held a decadence festival called "Dark Nights". And this was only the beginning. In 1005, a festival was held at the Club on Brest in Moscow, under the leadership of the leader of the Boston Tea Party, journalist Vladimir Preobrazhensky. Today, literary decadence has separated from secular, from Gothic and retro sites, virtually outlining its audience on the Internet. "Courtesan decadence" in the modern world will soon reach the popularity of decadence at its peak - in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.