Impressionism (literature)

Literary impressionism was influenced by the European Impressionist art movement which sought to reject established styles; as such, many writers adopted a style that relied on breaking conventions. Much of what has been called "impressionist" literature is subsumed into several other categories, especially Modernism and Symbolism. Why literary impressionism is subsumed into other categories may have to do with the overlap in timeframe. As for Modernism and Impressionism, both began in the late 19th century and continued into the 20th century, mirroring their artistic counterparts. == Usage ==

Since much of literary impressionism is subsumed into other categories, the most well-accepted examples of impressionistic literature are from widely known modernists and symbolists. Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness and The Lagoon), Aleksey Remizov (The Indefatigable Tambourine), and Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway) are among those examples. Although there is debate on whether or not Virginia Woolf was an Impressionist, her famed work Mrs. Dalloway had impressionistic scenes, chiefly, the airplane scene which is an example that scholars use today. The airplane scene gives readers a broad view of characters and their feelings while forcing the reader to battle with the disconnect between what they see and what they know. This scene holds two tenets of Impressionism, ambiguity and emotional landscape. ==References==