Post-Romanticism: Parnassianism, Symbolism, and Literary Figures

Introduction to Post-Romanticism

In the last third of the 19th century, a reaction against the post-Romantic idealistic type emerged. Writers rebelled against bourgeois values and customs (business, money, fame) and chose a more marginal way of life (alcohol, drugs) as a rejection of the society to which they belonged. They were drawn to the bohemian lifestyle, a model based on rebellion and freedom, which had two faces: the dandy and the cursed. Writers believed that the ultimate aim of art should be beauty. With them, contemporary art and artists were born. Post-Romanticism had its maximum splendor in France, giving rise to two poetic movements: Parnassianism and Symbolism.

Parnassianism

Focused on the theme of art for art's sake, Parnassian poets created serene poetry with intrinsic value. They found inspiration in painting and sculpture and attached great importance to form. A notable figure is Leconte de Lisle, author of Ancient Poems, inspired by classical antiquity.

Baudelaire

Baudelaire is considered the father of the main lyrical movements of the 20th century. His critical sense and the perfection of his verse overcame the "vital romance." Some formal features link him to Parnassianism, but the complexity of his inner world sets him apart. His attempt to harmonize forms, sounds, and colors brings him closer to Symbolism, but the density of his themes distances him. The precision and purity of his lines make him a classic. In addition to his masterpiece, The Flowers of Evil, he also published Short Poems in Prose, which reflects the reality of the city.

Symbolism

Symbolism is an aesthetic current that emerged in France around 1885. Baudelaire is a precursor, and its main figures are Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé. Symbolist poets:

• Live poetry as something mysterious and inexplicable, discovering the secrets of reality through symbols.
• Seek to create a lively atmosphere.
• Use free speech, unusual words, complex syntax, and metrical innovations, preferring musical terms.

Key Figures in Post-Romanticism

Verlaine

Verlaine's writing lies in the lightness with which he creates indefinable moods in his simple language, the sincerity with which he transmits his stories, and the delicate musicality of his verse. Fêtes Galantes is full of melancholy evocations of parks, abandoned and decaying. Romances Without Words, his best book, is a kind of diary of his affair with Rimbaud.

Rimbaud

Rimbaud was a genius. In his poetry, we find a teenager who follows the line of Victor Hugo and the Parnassians, and a young rebel, astounding for the originality and perfection of his style. In Illuminations and A Season in Hell, Rimbaud is haunted, announcing the bold images of the Surrealists.

Mallarmé

Mallarmé led a routine life as an English teacher. His central theme is poetry itself, which he tries to create anew with his limited language. He published works such as Herodias (a dialogue between the biblical figure and his nurse about beauty, nothingness, and death) and The Afternoon of a Faun (a faun, after the flight of nymphs, meditates and falls asleep in a bucolic landscape).

Portugal: Antero de Quental

Antero de Quental's thinking was influenced by the illness that led him to retire to his hometown, where he committed suicide. His Sonnets reflect the social and metaphysical concerns that obsessed him: the miseries of the underprivileged, pain, and death.

United States: Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is the first great North American poet. His many jobs during his youth allowed him to know the lives and concerns of the people, which became the central theme of his poetry. His book Leaves of Grass is the great epic poem needed by a young and enterprising nation: an exalted song to nature, life, and humans.

Latin America: José Martí

In the late 19th century, a Latin American literary movement emerged that tried to overcome the sentimentality and social content of realism through the fusion of European and indigenous elements. A prominent author is José Martí. His sincerity and honesty inspired his work. In Simple Verses, he shows his feelings and revolutionary ideas.