Baudelaire and the early romanticism

Abstract

The objective of this article is to engage in a discussion and critical examination of key concepts in literary criticism pertaining to Romanticism and its historical context, as articulated by figures such as Paul Bénichou, Bourdieu, and Lukács. In pursuit of this goal, we propose a comparative analysis of two poets from distinct generations, Lamartine and Baudelaire. Our aim is to identify, through the lens of a pivotal sentiment in French poetry and culture, namely “l’ennui”, the distinguishing characteristics of these two generational shifts and the role played by Baudelairean irony in critiquing the conservative aspects of early Romanticism.