ABSTRACT
Expressionism has been looked upon as a reaction against naturalism and symbolism, literary movements exemplified by Zola and Mallarme. Likewise the naturalist Sekundenstil and the pointilliste techniques of the impressionists both tend towards a dissolution of conventionally understood reality into fragments, which is surely an approximation to distortion and abstraction. The name of Bergson was also mentioned amongst the precursors of the movement, but the French writer who comes very close to expressionist vitalism, and whose poetry, in fact, predates much of the German writing, is Arthur Rimbaud. The fusion of mysticism and primitivism in Arthur Rimbaud, as well as his insistence that the poet should be voyant have obvious parallels with the work and aspirations of many of the young German writers under scrutiny. The New York stage of the early twenties was aware of German Expressionism as a theatrical force and emulated many of its characteristics.
