Features of impressionism explained simply in literature

The characteristics of impressionism

You probably know that the term "impressionism" is derived from the word "impression", which simply means "impression". The easiest way to explain the characteristics of the art movement "Impressionism" is in painting. The era begins there around 1870 and lasts until around 1920.

• A snapshot is shown in each case, as is the case with all images. But in contrast to other epochs, Impressionism does not tell any story, does not go into depth, but remains superficial.
• The artists try to capture a moment with their respective means without evaluating or analyzing it.
• It's about the here and now. Neither the past nor the future matter to the work.
• In painting these things show through the fleeting brushwork. Lines are not drawn through, only indicated. For the viewer, the image only comes together to form an overall impression with a little distance.
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Dream novel - epoch

The "dream novel" is one of the most famous works by the poet Arthur Schnitzler. …

• And it is precisely this overall impression, which is very individual, that is important - also in the literature of this era.

Analysis of the literature from impressionism

You should get the literature from the era of Impressionism perhaps don't analyze it right away, just describe it first. The characteristics are not only about the respective impression of the artist, but also about your impressions when reading or looking at them.

• If you're looking for any noticeable features that might suggest Impressionist text, then watch out for fleeting, somewhat blurry descriptions of situations, feelings, and Impress.
• The author does not want to convey any ideas to you as a reader and does not want to impose an opinion on you; he does not analyze or evaluate and withholds his opinion and even his feelings, at least initially.
• The text seems more like a fragment, there are no self-contained sequences of action, it Basically there is no story - at least not one that is immediately obvious to you as a reader were.
• There is generally little action, which means that you will find more nouns and descriptive adjectives in the texts than verbs and adverbs.
• The description of the impressions will appear choppy to you, a connection either hardly emerges for the reader or only at the very end of the story when he reflects on what he has read. This is very similar to looking at an Impressionist painting: you need the distance to understand what you see or read and to see the details.
• A text example would be the prose sketch "vision"by Thomas Mann. It is one of his early works, was written by him in 1893 and is characterized by impressionistic features - and even if the moment described lies in the past and it is a memory - that is important Moment.