The audience for Decadence is a key concern for this project. For some readers, debts to foreign writers were part of the movement’s reputation for difficult or abstruse writing. For example, the protagonist of Richard Le Gallienne’s loosely-autobiographical novel, Young Read More …
The French poet Stéphane Mallarmé is probably best known for ‘L’Après midi d’un faune’, a long erotically-charged reverie spoken by a satyr, enraptured by the sight of some nymphs bathing. (Édouard Manet’s illustrations for this poem provide some of the Read More …
During her fascinating talk about the interdisciplinary nature of Decadence at our event in Oxford, Professor Jane Desmarais (Chair of the British Association of Decadence Studies) raised a question that struck a chord with everyone in the room: given the importance Read More …
A post by Katharina Herold (Brasenose College, Oxford) ‘Decadence always really translates’ was the day’s touchstone. Scholars and translators from France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Britain and the US had gathered in Trinity College, Oxford to discuss translation and Decadence Read More …
First published in 1882, Paul Verlaine’s poem, ‘Art Poétique’ is a manifesto for Decadent poets; but it doesn’t just state rules for creating modern poems, it embodies those rules in its very form. As such, it presents a very particular Read More …