Decadent Subjects: The Idea of Decadence in Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Culture of the Fin de Siecle in Europe

This slim volume of exquisite little critical essays is a gem of literary and aesthetic criticism. Bernheimer was dying of cancer when he composed these last pieces, and they were edited and published just after his death. But sickness and death are only marginally reflected in the essays: Bernheimer was an expert of comparative literature, and that is the locus of the book.He is looking at the phenomenon of aesthetic Decadence which appeared in European literature c.1885-1905. One can argue that Decadence had earlier adumbrations in Poe, Baudelaire, Gautier, and the Goncourts, but their earlier efforts really saw fruition in the period known as the Fin de Siècle.One can look at the table of contents to see Bernheimer's topics of Nietzsche, Flaubert, Zola, Huysmans, Freud, etc. But what I want to impart is the excellence of Bernheimer's critique: he has a firm handle on what's become known as Postmodern criticism, but he's much more lucid than others who dabble in the genre. He writes a very nice English: he constructs very pellucid texts with lovely language--vocabulary, syntax, and punctuation. And his vision is very clear: he understands what he sees, and he is able to clearly formulate his vision to relate it Au lecteur (to the Reader) in such a manner as to make it easily apprehendable--something too often lacking in Postmodern criticism. Highly recommended for students and scholars of turn-of-the-century literature, culture, and intellectual history.