I have been a bit obsessed with the whole genre for a while now. To give a little definition, the words mean 'end of the century' in French, and the term is generally used to speak about the literature and art of the late 19th century. These arts often have a theme of both reflection on what has passed, and anticipation of what is to come. The fin de siécle often stands for fear of the future, and of things such as degeneration, illness, sickness, and terror. It also explores other things such as lavishness and decadence.
I sound like a teacher but I don't care! I am an English student, I can't apologise.
In literature, of what I know, my favourite fin de siécle authors are Thomas Hardy, and Oscar Wilde:
These are three of my favourite books. They are all exceedingly creepy, miserable, and a little bit gothic too. They are full of fear and terror about the future and about the destructive nature of man. I love miserable books, and Thomas Hardy is definitely my favourite favourite favourite of all the miserable writers out there; he is obsessed with doom and death, and I think he is the best of all the Victorian writers. 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is quite different from Hardy's work, in that it's really decadent and amazing and full of delicious description - it's very Oscar Wilde, basically, totally bourgeois and camp over the top, but still chilling and striking in its ending.
Gustav Klimt's work can also be seen as part of the genre too, as it was the same time. I can never get over what Klimt does with gold leaf:
'The Kiss'
'Judith holding the head of Holofernes'
So this is why I have chosen this name for my blog! I will probably ramble on about all sorts of other stuff though - books, clothes, art, etc etc, none of it related to anything, apart from me liking it!
