The Language of Symbolism

THE Language of Symbolism it is subjective, imprecise, vague, transcendental, sensorial, fluid, dreamlike, libertarian, expressive, musical, creative, mystical, mysterious, sensual and spiritual.

Symbolism Language Figures

Since the language of symbolism is full of sound and sensory combinations, the writers of this movement looked for resources that would enhance the musicality of writing.

So, the speech figures most used in symbolism, which are mostly related to sonority (sound pictures), are:

  • Alliteration: characterized by the repetition of consonants or syllables.
  • Assonance: characterized by the repetition of vowels.
  • Onomatopoeia: characterized by the insertion of real sounds.
  • Synesthesia: characterized by the combination of different sensations related to the sensory system (sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch).

Historical Context and Characteristics of Symbolism

Symbolism corresponds to an artistic movement that emerged in the last decades of the 19th century, and demonstrates the spiritual crisis of the time.

For this reason, the Symbolist movement is associated with the artistic and philosophical current of Decadentism.

In opposition to Realism, Naturalism and Parnassianism, Symbolism began in France with the publication of the work “the flowers of evil” (1857) by the French writer Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867).

The Symbolist Movement approaches Romanticism in that it explores subjectivity, thus recovering the emotional values ​​that were left aside by previous schools (Realism, Naturalism and Parnassianism), which in turn reliably portrayed aspects of society.

Thus, the main characteristics explored in Symbolism point to the anti-rationalist and anti-materialist conception of the movement, a as mystical and transcendental aspects unite with subjectivism, creativity and imagination, inaugurating a new way of seeing and feeling the world.

The main themes explored are love, madness, dreams, the human mind, pain, death, among others.

In such a way, the language of symbolism expresses the intention of the artists of this movement, when exploring aspects of the conscious and the subconscious, moving away from the formal models of previous schools and bringing to light aspects related above all to the human spirituality.

Symbolism in Brazil and Portugal

In Brazil, Symbolism began in 1893, with the publication of the works “Missal” (prose) and “Buckets” (poetry), by Cruz e Souza.

In Portugal, Symbolism is marked by the publication of the work “oarists”, by Eugenio de Castro in 1890.

Main Representatives in Brazil

In Brazil, the main Symbolist writers were:

  • Cruz e Souza (1861-1898)
  • Alphonsus de Guimaraens (1870-1921)
  • Augusto dos Anjos (1884-1914)

Main Representatives in Portugal

In Portugal, the most prominent Symbolist writers were:

  • Camilo Pessanha (1867-1926)
  • Eugenio de Castro (1869-1944)
  • Antônio Nobre (1867-1900)

Examples of Symbolist Poetry

To better understand the various aspects of Symbolist language, below are two examples:

Sonnet "In dreams...” by Cruz e Souza present in the work “Buckets

In the Holy moonlight oils, floria
Your ideal body, with the radiance of Helade...
And in all the ethereal, soft clarity
As if fluids of harmony were wrong...

The Immortal Eagles of Fantasy
They gave you wings and serenity
To climb, ascend the Immensity
Where the glare of so many suns radiates.

From space through the clear vellum
The Stars came clear, crystal clear,
With flames, vibrations, from above, singing...

In the holy oils of moonlight shrouded
Your body was the Astro in the loose spheres,
More Suns and More Stars fertilizing!

Final poem” by Camilo Pessanha present in the work “Clepsydra

O virtual colors that lie underground,
Blue, red flashes from hemoptysis,
Damaged flashes, chromatic vesanias,
In the limbo where you wait for the light that baptizes you,
Eyelids close, anxious not veil.
Abortions that hang your foreheads the color of cider,
So serious to overthink, in the mouths of museums,
And listening to the flow of water in the clepsydra,
Dimly you smile, resigned and atheist,
Cease to contemplate, the abyss do not probe.
Moaning cooing of undreamed dreams,
May you wander all night, sweet souls in pain,
And the laceral wings on the edge of the roofs,
And in the wind you breathe out in a soft whine,
I fell asleep. Do not sigh. Do not breathe.

To learn more about the topic, see the articles:

  • Symbolism
  • Symbolism in Brazil
  • Symbolism in Portugal
  • Symbolist Poetry
  • Characteristics of Symbolism
  • Authors of Symbolism in Brazil
  • Parnassianism and Symbolism
  • Questions about Symbolism

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