# bohemianism ![[pierre-augusterenoir-en%c3%a9t%c3%a9(laboh%c3%a9mienne.jpg|300]] pierre-auguste renoir the bohemian (or lise the bohemian) 1868 oil on canvas berlin germany: alte nationalgalerie bohemianism is a social and cultural movement that has at its core a way of life away from society's conventional norms and expectations. the term originates from the french bohème and spread to the english-speaking world. it was used to describe mid-19th-century non-traditional lifestyles especially of artists writers journalists musicians and actors in major european cities bohemian is a 19th-century historical and literary topos that places the milieu of young metropolitan artists and intellectuals - particularly those of the latin quarter in paris - in a context of poverty hunger appreciation of friendship idealisation of art and contempt for money. based on this topos the most diverse real-world subcultures are often referred to as "bohemian" in a figurative sense especially (but by no means exclusively) if they show traits of a precariat bohemians were associated with unorthodox or anti-establishment political or social viewpoints expressed through free love frugality and - in some cases - simple living van dwelling or voluntary poverty. a more economically privileged wealthy or even aristocratic bohemian circle is sometimes referred to as haute bohème (literally "upper bohemian") the term bohemianism emerged in france in the early 19th century out of perceived similarities between the urban bohemians and the romani people; la bohème was a common term for the romani people of france who were thought to have reached france in the 15th century via bohemia (the western part of modern czech republic.) bohemianism and its adjective bohemian in this specific context are not connected to the native inhabitants of the historical region of bohemia (the czechs) # origins # # european bohemianism literary and artistic bohemians were associated in the french imagination with the roving romani people often pejoratively referred to as "gypsies." romani were called bohemiens in french because they were believed to have come to france from bohemia the title character in carmen (1875) a french opera by georges bizet set in the spanish city of seville is referred to as a "bohemienne" in meilhac and halevy's libretto. ir signature aria declares love itself to be a "gypsy child" (enfant de bohême) going where it pleases and obeying no laws > the term bohemian has come to be very commonly accepted in our day as the description of a certain kind of literary gypsy no matter in what language ey speaks or what city ey inhabits .... a bohemian is simply an artist or "litterateur" who consciously or unconsciously secedes from conventionality in life and in art > > ~ westminster review 1862) henri murger's 1845 collection of short stories scènes de la vie de bohème (scenes of bohemian life) was written to glorify and legitimize the bohemian lifestyle. murger's collection formed the basis of giacomo puccini's 1896 opera la bohème in england bohemian in this sense initially was popularised in william makepeace thackeray's 1848 novel vanity fair. public perceptions of the alternative lifestyles supposedly led by artists were further molded by george du maurier's romanticised best-selling novel of bohemian culture trilby (1894.) the novel outlines the fortunes of three expatriate english artists ir irish model and two colourful central european musicians in the artist quarter of paris in spanish literature the bohemian impulse can be seen in ramón del valle-inclán's 1920 play luces de bohemia in ir song "la bohème" charles aznavour described the bohemian lifestyle in montmartre. the 2001 film moulin rouge! also imagines the bohemian lifestyle of actors and artists in montmartre at the turn of the 20th century # # american bohemianism ![[220px-bohemiangroveduringthesummerhi-jinks-circa1911-.jpg|300]] bohemian grove during the summer hi-jinks circa 1911-1916 in the 1850s bohemian culture started to become established in the united states via immigration. in new york city in 1857 a group of 15 to 20 young cultured journalists flourished as self-described bohemians until the american civil war began in 1861. this group gathered at a german bar on broadway called pfaff's beer cellar. members included ir leader henry clapp jr. ada clare walt whitman fitz hugh ludlow and actress adah isaacs menken similar groups in other cities were broken up as well by the civil war and reporters spread out to report on the conflict. during the war correspondents began to assume the title bohemian and newspapermen in general took up the moniker. bohemian became synonymous with newspaper writer. in 1866 war correspondent junius henri browne who wrote for the new york tribune and harper's magazine described bohemian journalists such as ey was as well as the few carefree women and lighthearted men ey encountered during the war years san francisco journalist bret harte first wrote as "the bohemian" in the golden era in 1861 with this persona taking part in many satirical doings the lot published in ir book bohemian papers in 1867. harte wrote "bohemia has never been located geographically but any clear day when the sun is going down if you mount telegraph hill you shall see its pleasant valleys and cloud-capped hills glittering in the west ." mark twain included himself and charles warren stoddard in the bohemian category in 1867. by 1872 when a group of journalists and artists who gathered regularly for cultural pursuits in san francisco were casting about for a name the term bohemian became the main choice and the bohemian club was born. club members who were established and successful pillars of ir community respectable family men redefined ir own form of bohemianism to include people like them who were bons vivants sportsmen and appreciators of the fine arts. club member and poet george sterling responded to this redefinition > any good mixer of convivial habits considers ey has a right to be called a bohemian. but that is not a valid claim. there are two elements at least that are essential to bohemianism. the first is devotion or addiction to one or more of the seven arts; the other is poverty. other factors suggest themselves: for instance i like to think of my bohemians as young as radical in ir outlook on art and life; as unconventional and though this is debatable as dwellers in a city large enough to have the somewhat cruel atmosphere of all great cities > > ~ parry 2005) despite ir views sterling associated with the bohemian club and caroused with artist and industrialist alike at the bohemian grove canadian composer oscar ferdinand telgmann and poet george frederick cameron wrote the song "the bohemian" in the 1889 opera leo the royal cadet the impish american writer and bohemian club member gelett burgess who coined the word blurb supplied this description of the amorphous place called bohemia ![[gelettburgess-mapofbohemia1896.jpg|300]] gelett burgess drew this fanciful "map of bohemia" for the lark march 1 1896 (see also the winter's tale § the seacoast of bohemia) > to take the world as one finds it the bad with the good making the best of the present moment - to laugh at fortune alike whether they be generous or unkind - to spend freely when one has money and to hope gaily when one has none - to fleet the time carelessly living for love and art - this is the temper and spirit of the modern bohemian in ir outward and visible aspect. it is a light and graceful philosophy but it is the gospel of the moment this exoteric phase of the bohemian religion; and if in some noble natures it rises to a bold simplicity and naturalness it may also lend its butterfly precepts to some very pretty vices and lovable faults for in bohemia one may find almost every sin save that of hypocrisy. . > > ir faults are more commonly those of self-indulgence thoughtlessness vanity and procrastination and these usually go hand-in-hand with generosity love and charity; for it is not enough to be one's self in bohemia one must allow others to be themselves as well. . > > what then is it that makes this mystical empire of bohemia unique and what is the charm of its mental fairyland? it is this: there are no roads in all bohemia! one must choose and find one's own path be one's own self live one's own life > ~ ayloh 1902) in new york city the pianist rafael joseffy formed an organisation of musicians in 1907 with friends such as rubin goldmark called "the bohemians (new york musicians' club)." near times square joel rinaldo presided over "joel's bohemian refreshery" where the bohemian crowd gathered from before the turn of the 20th century until prohibition began to bite. jonathan larson's musical rent and specifically the song "la vie boheme" portrayed the post-modem bohemian culture of new york in the late 20th century in may 2014 a story on npr suggested after a century and a half some bohemian ideal of living in poverty for the sake of art had fallen in popularity among the latest generation of american artists. in the feature a recent graduate of the rhode island school of design related "ir classmates showed little interest in living in garrets and eating ramen noodles" # people ![[bohemianlife(1899)(14785593483).jpg|300]] an illustration from henri murger's 1899 book bohemian life the term has become associated with various artistic or academic communities and is used as a generalised adjective describing such people environs or situations: bohemian (boho - informal) is defined in the american college dictionary as "a person with artistic or intellectual tendencies who lives and acts with no regard for conventional rules of behavior" many prominent european and american figures of the 19th and 20th centuries belonged to the bohemian subculture and any comprehensive "list of bohemians" would be tediously long. bohemianism has been approved of by some bourgeois writers such as honore de balzac but most conservative cultural critics do not condone bohemian lifestyles in bohemian manifesto: a field guide to living on the edge author laren stover breaks down the bohemian into five distinct mind-sets or styles as follows **+** beat: also drifters but non-materialist and art-focused **+** dandy: no money but try to appear as if they have it by buying and displaying expensive or rare items - such as brands of alcohol **+** gypsy: the expatriate types they create ir own gypsy ideal of nirvana wherever they go **+** nouveau: bohemians that are rich who attempt to join traditional bohemianism with contemporary culture **+** zen: "post-beat" focus on spirituality rather than art aimee crocker an american world traveler adventuress heiress and mystic was dubbed the "queen of bohemia" in the 1910s by the world press for living an uninhibited sexually liberated and aggressively non-conformist life in san francisco new york and paris. they spent the bulk of ir fortune inherited from ir father edwin b. crocker a railroad tycoon and art collector on traveling all over the world (lingering the longest in hawaii india japan and china) and partying with famous artists of ir time such as oscar wilde robert louis stevenson mark twain the barrymores enrico caruso isadora duncan henri matisse auguste rodin and rudolph valentino. crocker had countless affairs and married five times in five different decades of ir life each man being in ir twenties. they was famous for ir tattoos and pet snakes and was reported to have started the first buddhist colony in manhattan. spiritually inquisitive crocker had a ten-year affair with occultist aleister crowley and was a devoted student of hatha yoga maxwell bodenheim an american poet and novelist was known as the king of greenwich village bohemians during the 1920s and ir writing brought ir international fame during the jazz age ![[republic of bob/citation needed (wikinovel)/attachments/prenzlauerbergpfefferberg-001.jpg|300]] former brewery turned artist center in prenzlauer berg in the 20th-century united states the bohemian impulse was famously seen in the 1940s hipsters the 1950s beat generation (exemplified by writers such as william s. burroughs allen ginsberg jack kerouac and lawrence ferlinghetti) the much more widespread 1960s counterculture and 1960s and 1970s hippies rainbow gatherings may be seen as another contemporary worldwide expression of the bohemian impulse. an american example is burning man an annual participatory arts festival held in the nevada desert in 2001 political and cultural commentator david brooks contended that much of the cultural ethos of well-to-do middle-class americans is bohemian-derived coining the oxymoron "bourgeois bohemians" or "bobos." a similar term in germany is bionade-biedermeier a 2007 german neologism combining bionade (a trendy lemonade brand) and biedermeier (an era of introspective central european culture between 1815 and 1848.) the coinage was introduced in 2007 by henning sußebach a german journalist in an article that appeared in zeitmagazin concerning berlin's prenzlauer berg lifestyle. the hyphenated term gained traction and has been quoted and referred to since. a german ard tv broadcaster used the title boheme and biedermeier in a 2009 documentary about berlin's prenzlauer berg. the main focus was on protagonists that contributed to the image of a paradise for the (organic and child-raising) well-to-do depicting cafes where "bionade-biedermeier sips from fair-trade" # see also related terms - art colony - avant-garde - bohemian club - bohemian rhapsody - bohemian style - la boheme magazine - boho-chic - counterculture - counterculture of the 1960s - gentrification - history of modern western subcultures - lumpenproletariat - precariat - simple living - slumming - spiral of silence: related cultures or movements - beat generation - beatnik - bloomsbury group - crusties - dandy - diggers - folk culture - freetown christiania - freighthopping - goth - gutter punk - hippie - hipster (1940s subculture) - hipster (contemporary subculture) - libertine - merry pranksters - nomads - pre-raphaelite brotherhood - punk - sydney push:#bibliography **+** easton malcolm (1964.) artists and writers in paris. the bohemian idea 1803-1867 (asin b0016a7cja ed..) london: arnold **+** graña cesar (1964.) bohemian versus bourgeois: french society and the french man of letters in the nineteenth century. new york: basic books **+** parry albert. (2005.) garretts & pretenders: a history of bohemianism in america cosimo inc. isbn 1-59605-090-x **+** stansell christine (2000.) american moderns: bohemian new york and the creation of a new century. henry holt & company **+** wilson elizabeth (2002.) bohemians: the glamorous outcasts. tauris parke paperbacks **+** levin joanna (2010.) bohemia in america 1858-1920. stanford university press. 83-6 **+** richardson joanna (1969.) the bohemians: la vie de boheme in paris 1830-1914. london: macmillan **+** siegel jerrold (1999.) bohemian paris: culture politics and the boundaries of bourgeois life 1830-1930. the johns hopkins university press. 63-8 **+** smith lemuel douglas (1961.) the real bohemia: a sociological and psychological study of the beats. literary licensing llc. 728. a study of the beat lifestyle of the 1950s and 1960s **+** tarnoff benjamin (2014) the bohemians: mark twain and the san francisco writers who reinvented american literature. penguin books. 739 // republic of bob