Symbolism

Symbolism, in literature, movement begun by a group of French poets in the late 19th century in opposition to naturalism. Prominent poets associated with symbolism include Jules Laforgue, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Valéry, and Paul Verlaine. Influenced by Charles Baudelaire, the symbolists aimed to create poetic images, or symbols, that would be apprehended by the senses and reach into the preconscious world of the spirit. Though short-lived as a movement, symbolism influenced such major writers as James Joyce, Marcel Proust, R.M. Rilke, and W.B. Yeats.