‘Poisonous honey’: Recent writing on decadence and the 1890s

Abstract

AbstractThis essay is a round‐up of recent developments in research into decadence. Decadent literature and art have always had their adherents, but from the mid‐1980s, the growing influence of feminism and other forms of gendered reading, notably queer theory, began to transform their scholarly understanding. Rather than simply being concerned with artistic autonomy and despising the vulgar herd, decadents such as Oscar Wilde raised questions of subjectivity and identity, which would become increasingly important as the 20th century unfolded. Critics also began to revise the decadent “canon,” recognising the importance of women writers and extended its boundaries beyond 1895 or 1914, the two informally accepted markers of the movement's end. The essay discusses key books and writers on decadence, briefly considers the importance of digital humanities in decadent scholarship and posits some future directions, which critical writing on decadence may pursue.