Editor’s Foreword: ‘Decadence’

S-J Zubair

doi:10.14324/111.1755-4527.094

Abstract

Editor’s Foreword: ‘Decadence’

Highlights

F rom a neutral term for ‘decline’, decadence has transformed over the centuries into a laden term invoked to signify decay, as well as a warning against the dangers of excess and the pursuit of pleasure
Perceived as a disruptive force, dangerous to social order and bourgeois normativity, the threat of decadence is invoked in modern political rhetoric to stoke anxieties over shifts in traditional values and social mores, as well as the looming threat of an irretrievable loss of geopolitical power
In spite of the term's connotations, an identifiable decadent ethos has been embraced by writers, artists, and 'othered' individuals as modes of aesthetic expression, as well as rebellion against and liberation from social strictures

Summary

Introduction

F rom a neutral term for ‘decline’, decadence has transformed over the centuries into a laden term invoked to signify decay, as well as a warning against the dangers of excess and the pursuit of pleasure. Translated into varying types of physically-infused aesthetic expressions, this decadent limit-experience is a subversive mode that deconstructs and challenges both audience sensibilities and popular standards of taste. XI of Moveable Type explores this intersection of excess, subversion and deconstruction through various iterations of decadence across different texts and time periods.

Results

Conclusion