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Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realism. In literature, the style originates with the 1857 publication of Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal.
While The Symbolist Movement in Literature was first published in monograph book form in 1899, its origins can be traced back to previous essays and articles published by Symons. In 1893, Symons' article The Decadent Movement in Literature appeared in the November volume of Harper's New Monthly Magazine. This ten page article touched on many of ...
In literature, such as novels, plays, and poems, symbolism goes beyond just the literal written words on a page, since writing itself is also inherently a system of symbols. Artistic symbols may be intentionally built into a work by its creator, which in the case of narratives can make symbolism a deliberate narrative device .
In his fables, the famed Greek story teller Aesop used the lion's symbolism of power and strength in The Lion and the Mouse and Lion's Share. [citation needed] Since classical antiquity, a Gaetulian lion in literature is a lion of fierce reputation.
Many references to ravens exist in world lore and literature. Most depictions allude to the appearance and behavior of the wide-ranging common raven (Corvus corax). Because of its black plumage, croaking call, and diet of carrion, the raven is often associated with loss and ill omen. Yet, its symbolism is complex.
The decadent movement takes decadence in literature to an extreme, with characters who debase themselves for pleasure, [53] [54] and the use of metaphor, symbolism and language as tools to obfuscate the truth rather than expose it [55] Joris-Karl Huysmans, Gustav Flaubert, Charles Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde: Aestheticism
Religious symbol, an iconic representation of a religion or religious concept Buddhist symbolism, the use of Buddhist art to represent certain aspects of dharma; Christian symbolism, the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity; Symbols of Islam, the use of symbols in Islamic literature, art and architecture
Symbolism has often been confused with the Decadent movement. Arthur Symons, a British poet and literary critic contemporary with the movement, at one time considered Decadence in literature to be a parent category that included both Symbolism and Impressionism, as rebellions against realism. He defined this common, decadent thread as "an ...