Fin de siècle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century," also implying the end of an era.
The English term "turn-of-the-century" is sometimes used as a synonym, but applies to the beginning of the next century, so the nineteenth century fin de siècle is called the turn of the twentieth century. The English term is more neutral, lacking some of the cultural connotations described below.
In both languages, the term generally encompasses both the closing decades of a century and the opening decades of the following century.
The expression fin de siècle often occurs in English prose without the French accent. In general, fin de siècle is often used to refer to the end of the nineteenth century and the era of the Belle Epoque.
Curiously, an alternative term, fin de millénnaire, which means, literally, end of the millennium, has not been generally adopted to denote the turn of the 21st century. It has been used, as a Google search will show, but the ambiguous term fin de siècle is still used for the more recent transitional era.
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[edit] Basic connotations
The expression fin de siècle generally refers to the years 1880 to 1914 in Europe. It has connotations of decadence, which are seen as typical for the last years of a culturally vibrant period (La Belle Époque at the turn of the 20th century), and of anticipative excitement about, or despair facing, impending change, or both, that is generally expected when a century or time period draws to a close. In Russia, the term Silver Age is somewhat more popular.
That the expression is in French, probably comes from the fact that the fin de siècle is particularly associated with certain late 19th-century French-speaking circles in Paris and Brussels, exemplified by artists like Stéphane Mallarmé, movements like Symbolism, and works of art like Oscar Wilde's Salomé (originally written in French and premiered in Paris)—which connects the idea of the fin de siècle also to the Aesthetic movement. Also, Edvard Munch spent some of his time in Paris around the turn-of-the-century, which was his most melancholy period.
[edit] Broader sense
In a broader sense the expression fin de siècle is used to characterise anything that has an ominous mixture of opulence and/or decadence, combined with a shared prospect of unavoidable radical change or some approaching "end."
Note that it is not necessarily change itself that is implied in the expression fin de siècle, but rather its anticipation. For example, for the 19th-century fin de siècle, the most radical changes to the cultural and social order occurred more than a decade after the new century had started (most notably as a result of World War I). The Belle Époque was not even at its height in 1900, nor had the Edwardian era (almost seamlessly following the Victorian era) even started.
A more recent example of fin de siècle can be found in the Y2K problem: the general turmoil caused by this in itself relatively insignificant technical issue becomes a lot more understandable when acknowledging an underlying fin de siècle mechanism. Many other 20th-century phenomena, e.g. New Age, could be interpreted as building on at least some fin de siècle ideas.
[edit] References
- A reference text regarding the 19th century fin de siècle is Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower.
- Another reference text regarding the 19th century fin de siècle in Vienna is Carl Schorske's Fin-de-Siècle Vienna.
- The British progressive rock group Yes have a song called Turn of the Century on their 1977 album Going for the One.
- The French rock group Noir Désir has a song called Fin de Siècle on their 666667 Club album.
- Built between 1886 and 1914, the "Belle Époque" quarter in Bagnoles de l'Orne, France, is filled with superb villas that are typical of the "Fin de siècle" architecture.
- The Divine Comedy (band) released an album in 1998 called Fin de Siècle.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- Occulture in the Fin de Siecle Ashe Journal Special on the Fin de Siecle.de:Fin de siècle
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