Delineating Decadence: The Influence of J.-K. Huysmans on Arthur Symons‪.‬

Arthur Symons, an early devotee of the works of J.-K. Huysmans, was especially drawn to A Rebours. Initially, Huysmans' novel turned Symons into a Francophile and student of Continental literature; later, it significantly entered into his delineation of Decadence, which he modified and labeled Symbolism. When he dubbed A Rebours "the breviary of the decadence," Symons helped it become exactly that among a coterie of young, impressionable British poets. Symons' essay "The Decadent Movement in Literature" is an astute reaction to the epoch epitomized by A Rebours. Symons incorporated his critical responses to Huysmans' En Route and La Cathedrale into a chapter in The Symbolist Movement in Literature, which he tided "Huysmans the Symbolist." Today, The Symbolist Movement in Literature is widely considered one of the most significant volumes of modern criticism; Huysmans' influence on its genesis is worthy of special focus. **********