While I do agree with you that the Bloomsbury group does follow along with the more understood definition of what it is to be Bohemian to me they are both “Bohemian” one (Bloomsbury) is more open, radical and unconventional while the other (Lost Generation) is more subtle and hidden but not totally hidden.
Some people like to quote Alphone de Calonne by saying, “Bohemia is a sad country, bounded on the North by need, on the South by poverty, on the East by illusion, and on the West by the hospital. It is irrigated by two inexhaustible streams: imprudence and shame.” Or they will quote any of a number of others who all basically say that a Bohemian is someone interested in art or literature and lives in poverty.
This was probably true during the 19th and early 20th centuries it is not all that true today and I disagree in many ways with that analogy. While many Bohemians today still live in poverty there are many Bohemians who have found wealth and great success in the arts while keeping there radical unconventional ways. Should those who have found success be considered any less “Bohemian” than those who live the more “conventional” Bohemian lifestyle?
Aside from the “literal” definition of Bohemian…what is Bohemian? To me it goes far beyond the “Bloomsbury group” or the “Lost Generation” it is a lifestyle all its own. It is placing freedom and self expression above wealth and societal conformity. Most often a Bohemian is a writer, an artist or someone who is in that niche of society…it is a culture all its own generally associated with “free thinkers” who wish to express themselves fully without the constraints of societal norms and if success is found along the way…hooray for them.
This “subculture” of society has not only helped shape the artistic and literary history and future of society they have brought out into the open aspects of society that many people would like to believe does not exist and they did it by applying there freedom of self expression whether they stayed hidden in the background or standing proudly for all to see. _________________ All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are
Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine
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