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Parnassianism

Movement
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A 19th-century French poetry movement emphasizing formal control, objectivity, and detachment

Detailed Definition
Parnassianism was a 19th-century French poetic movement reacting against Romantic emotionalism by championing formal precision, impersonality, and “art for art’s sake”; Parnassian poets like Théophile Gautier and Leconte de Lisle emphasized sculptural diction, classical themes, and meticulous craftsmanship, striving for objectivity and aesthetic detachment—qualities that influenced later Symbolists and Modernists in their pursuit of poetic autonomy from moral or political agendas.
Example
Example in poetry:
Parnassianism in Leconte de Lisle’s “Poèmes barbares”; precise craftsmanship in Théophile Gautier; detached aestheticism in Algernon Swinburne; modern Parnassian echoes in Richard Wilbur’s formal control
Additional Notes
Movement or approach emphasizing aesthetic perfection over emotional expression. Related to art-for-art's-sake. Parnassians rejected Romantic excess. Consider relationship to later modernist impersonality.
Also Known As
Art-for-art's-sake Parnassian movement French formalism Aesthetic poetry Parnasse
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