Criticism > Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism > The Parnassian Movement - Parnassianism And Positivism

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PARNASSIANISM AND POSITIVISM

D. G. Charlton (essay date 1957)

SOURCE: "Positivism and Leconte de Lisle's Ideas on Poetry," in French Studies, Vol. II, No. 3, July, 1957, pp. 246-59.

[In the following excerpt, Charlton discusses the Parnassian movement in relation to positivism, asserting that the connection is weaker than commonly thought.]

It has been frequently alleged, especially in comparisons with the Symbolists, that the Parnassian poets are Positivistic in their attitude to life and poetry.¹ Van Tieghem, for example, comments: 'Ceque les purs artistes de 1830-35 refusèrent aux Saint-Simoniens, les poètes de 1850-60 l'accordèrent au positivisme', whilst Jasinski concludes: 'Accord du scientisme et de l'esprit «artiste», tel est bientôt le vif de l'inspiration parnassienne.' And of Symbolism by contrast he writes: 'A la certitude positiviste, qui prétendait chasser toutes les ombres, il oppose la...

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1. Introduction
2. Representative Works
3. Overviews
4. Parnassians And Epic Form
5. Parnassianism And Positivism
6. Further Reading
7. Copyright