Parnassianism
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A French literary style which began during the positivist period of the 19th century. uncountable
"The leading poets of Parnassianism, like Machado, were utterly respectable and middle classs, good family men; many were bureaucrats, and they were proud that they had freed poets from "the obligation to wear their hair long" (Bilac, in Broca, 1960:7). Symbolism was enormously influential in almost every other Western culture; it never had a chance in Brazil, in a literary world dominated by Parnassianism and its disciples."
- 2 the theories and practice of a school of French poets in the 19th century, especially an emphasis upon art for art's sake, careful metrics, and the repression of emotive elements. wordnet
Example
More examples"The leading poets of Parnassianism, like Machado, were utterly respectable and middle classs, good family men; many were bureaucrats, and they were proud that they had freed poets from "the obligation to wear their hair long" (Bilac, in Broca, 1960:7). Symbolism was enormously influential in almost every other Western culture; it never had a chance in Brazil, in a literary world dominated by Parnassianism and its disciples."
Etymology
From Parnassian + -ism.
More for "parnassianism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.