France, Fin de Siècle

by Eugen Weber

Book Overview

The end of the nineteenth century in France was marked by political scandals, social unrest, dissension, and "decadence." Yet the fin de si?cle was also an era of great social and scientific progress, a time when advantages previously reserved for the privileged began to be shared by the many. Public transportation, electrical illumination, standard time, and an improved water supply radically altered the life of the modest folk, who found...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674318137
• ISBN13: 9780674318137
• Release Date: March 1988
• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Anecdotal Pictures of Fin de Siecle France

In Eugen Weber's work, France, Fin de Siécle, the author contends that the period leading up to the close of the 19th century in France exemplified characteristics that serve to define it as a separate entity from the later Belle Époque. In presenting this argument, Weber studies various aspects of Fin de Siécle France and attempts to show their uniqueness from other periods of French history. A time known for decadent behavior, dynamic social strata, new societal roles, and literary and artistic virtuosity, Weber artfully reconstructs the period with due attention given to the technologies and innovations pushing France's move towards modernity and convenience. In this manner, Weber's largest contribution to understanding of the Fin de Siécle period remains the importance his research places on French society's reaction to the radically changing world around them. Whether manifested in art, politics, literature, or economics, Weber effectively shows that the Fin de Siécle embodied not only innovative, but also quite reactionary responses from the French people - a point sometimes glossed over by focusing largely on the achievements of the intellectual and artistic subculture of the period. In this work, Weber attempts to examine the larger social undercurrents in Fin de Siécle France, as this period remains forever immortalized and likewise popular due in part to the art and literature of the Symbolists, Impressionists, and Romantics. Though the period exemplified painstaking endeavors in decadence and the elevation of vice against virtue, Weber argues that such focus on pessimism remained a characteristic of a much larger societal grouping than solely the Bohemian intellectuals. By examining not only the predominate literature of the age, but likewise contemporary journalism and social commentary, Weber shows a society deep in the throws of overwhelming modernization and the implications of such a change. French society of the time feared a great transgression, as the proliferation of the popular press penetrated most all aspects of society and brought the decadent outlooks and opinions of the few to the attention of the many, further highlighting problems with alcoholism, drug abuse, and moral depravity. Examples such as Petit Journal and Petit Parisien substantiate Weber's claims, as the illustrations he cites clearly expose a society concerned with a commonly perceived transgression in response to the powerful forces of industrialization and modernization. Though the economic recovery in the last part of the period allowed for the Belle Epoch, Weber shows the French people to have a more fatalistic and negative outlook on social progress in the period after the Fin de Siécle and the beginning of World War I. In order to prevent from devoting too much of his examination on the literary and artistic support of decadent behavior and societal ills, Weber presents the radical changes brought about by the process of industrialization in France

France: Fin de Siecle

Extremely interesting book about decadence and social decline at the end of the century.