Decadentism

Decadentism (also called Decadentismo) was an Italian artistic style based mainly on the Decadent movement in the arts in France and England around the end of the 19th century. The main authors associated with decadentism were Antonio Fogazzaro, Italo Svevo, Giovanni Pascoli and Gabriele D'Annunzio. Although differing stylistically, they championed idiosyncrasy and irrationality against scientific rationalism. A later critic, Walter Binni, analyzed the style favorably in his 1936 book La poetica del decadentismo and distinguished between moral and aesthetic decadence. Another scholar of decadentism was Norberto Bobbio, noted especially for his 1945 book, La filosofia del decadentismo.