Impressionism (literature)

A term taken from painting to signify the conveying of a subjective impression of the world rather than its objective appearance. In literature the term is rather imprecise, and to some extent overlaps with Expressionism. It relates primarily to the practice of the Symbolist poets and the psychological or stream-of-consciousness novel, drawing attention to the blurred outlines, shifting categories, and uncertain truth-values of the relativized modern world. Examples are to be found in the writings of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Marcel Proust.

Influenced by the Impressionist art movement, many writers adopted a style that relied on associations. Much of what we would call "impressionist" literature is actually subsumed into a number of categories, especially Symbolism, with its chief exponents being Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Rimbaud, and Verlaine.

Impressionistic literature can basically be defined as when an author centers his story/attention on the character's mental life such as the character's impressions, feelings, sensations and emotions, rather than trying to interpret them.