The Significance Of Symbolism As The Beginning Of Modernism

Symbolism is the first Modernist school of literature and art, has the greatest influence, and lasts for the longest time. The inward turn of the aesthetic point of view is a dominant trend in western Modernist literature, and Symbolism is the forerunner of the turn from the imitation of the real life to the expression of the subjective world. All the Modernists are against imitating the reality or expressing their emotions directly. As the opening work of Symbolism, Les Fleurs du Mal brings the ugly into the literary field, which transcends the subject matter of traditional literature. In the twentieth century, Modernism inherits and develops such subject matters such as the alienation expressed in expressionist literature, and the absurdness exhibited in existential literature. In other words, concerning the subject matter, Modernism with Symbolism as its beginning brings the ugly and absurd into the literary world in order to disclose the absurdness of society and life in modern times and man's loneliness, disappointment and despair in the highly civilized society. Besides, the artistic devices such as symbol and musicality advocated by Symbolism are also accepted by Modernists.This thesis attempts to research the significance of Symbolism as the beginning of Modernism or Symbolism's influence on Modernism or its enlightening meaning for Modernism in three aspects: aesthetic turn, subject characteristics, and formal characteristics by analyzing and comparing some works of Symbolism and Modernism, and by means of combining theoretical study with textual analysis, macro-survey with micro-anatomy, the writers with their works, the trend of thought with the specific works. By doing so, the correspondence between Symbolism and Modernism will be established, and the significance of Symbolism as the beginning of Modernism will be justified. In addition, if through mapping the status of Symbolism in western literary history, the origin and development of Modernism can be constructed logically and substantially, the author's goal would be attained. Or even ifthis thesis can provide the study of Modernist literature with some clue or some target for criticism, the author will still gain much out of her expectation.