Parnassianism (or Parnassism) was a group of French poets that started during the positivist period of the 19th century (1860s–1890s). It came after Romanticism and before Symbolism. The style was influenced by the writer Théophile Gautier and by the ideas of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

Origins and name

The name comes from the journal of the original Parnassian poets, called Le Parnasse contemporain, which was named after Mount Parnassus, a mountain in Greek mythology where the Muses lived. The anthology was first published in 1866 and later in 1871 and 1876. It included poems by Charles Leconte de Lisle, Théodore de Banville, Sully Prudhomme, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, François Coppée, Nina de Callias, and José María de Heredia.

The Parnassians were influenced by Théophile Gautier and his idea of "art for art's sake." They reacted against the less-structured style of Romantic poetry and what they saw as too much emotion and political messages in Romantic works. Instead, the Parnassians focused on creating precise and perfect poetry, using unusual and classical themes. They treated these themes with strict forms and emotional distance. Ideas about this emotional distance were inspired by the writings of Schopenhauer.

The two most important and lasting members of the movement were Heredia and Leconte de Lisle.

Transnational influences

Parnassianism, which began in France, was practiced by writers from many countries. Olavo Bilac, a Brazilian poet and student of Alberto de Oliveira, was known for carefully creating verses and meter while expressing strong emotions in his work. In Poland, Parnassian poets included Antoni Lange, Felicjan Faleński, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, and Leopold Staff. A Romanian poet influenced by Parnassianism was Alexandru Macedonski. Florbela Espanca and Cesário Verde were Portuguese poets who followed Parnassian traditions (Larousse).

In Turkey, poets from the Servet-i Fünun movement, such as Tevfik Fikret, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, and Cenap Şahabettin, were inspired by Parnassianism. In Britain, poets like Andrew Lang, Austin Dobson, and Edmund Gosse were sometimes called "English Parnassians" because they used old poetic forms, such as the ballade, villanelle, and rondeau, which were originally from France. These poets took ideas from French writers like Banville.

Gerard Manley Hopkins used the word "Parnassian" in a negative way to describe poetry that was skillful but lacked inspiration. He believed this style was especially seen in the work of Alfred Tennyson, using the poem "Enoch Arden" as an example.