Decadence and Modernism from Mallarme to Marinetti

How the notion of decadence, initially a term of derision, shapes and underlies the positive terms of symbolism and modernism. Readings include theories of decadence and examples of symbolist and modernist texts that attempt to exorcise decadent demons, such as lust, mysticism, and the retreat into artificiality. Authors include Huysmans, Poe, Mallarmé, Nietzsche, Nordau, d'Annunzio, Valry, Ungaretti, Marinetti, and Breton.