meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
In Our Time: Philosophy

Bohemianism

In Our Time: Philosophy

BBC

History

4.51.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2003

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 19th century Parisian philosophy of life lived for art. In 1848 the young Parisian Henri Murger wrote of his bohemian friends: Their daily existence is a work of genius…they know how to practise abstinence with all the virtue of an anchorite, but if a slice of fortune falls into their hands you will see them at once mounted on the most ruinous fancies, loving the youngest and prettiest, drinking the oldest and best, and never finding sufficient windows to throw their money out of. Then, when their last crown is dead and buried...they go poaching on all the callings that have any connection with art, hunting from morn till night that wild beast called a five franc piece. Bohemianism meant a life lived for art, it meant sexual liberation and freedom from social constraint, but it also meant dodging the landlord and burning your poems to stay warm. How did the garret-philosophy of the Parisian Latin Quarter take over the drawing rooms of Bloomsbury and Chelsea, and why did a French war with necessity emerge as a British life-style as art? With Hermione Lee, Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and biographer of Virginia Woolf; Virginia Nicholson, author of Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939; Graham Robb, writer and biographer of Balzac, Victor Hugo and Rimbaud.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Thanks for down learning the In Our Time podcast. For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co.uk.

0:09.0

I hope you enjoy the program.

0:11.0

Hello, in 1848 the young Parisian Henri Mougee wrote of his Bohemian friends,

0:17.0

their daily existence is a work of genius, they know how to practice abstinence with all the virtue of an

0:22.0

anchorite, but if a slice of fortune falls

0:24.6

into their hands you will see them at once mounted on the most ruinous fancies, loving the

0:29.4

youngest and prettiest, drinking the oldest and best, and never finding sufficient windows to throw their money out of.

0:36.0

Then, when their last crown is dead and buried, they go poaching on all the callings that have any connection with art,

0:42.0

hunting from mortal night that wild beast

0:44.8

called a five-franc peace.

0:47.6

In mid and late 19th century Paris, Bohemianism meant a life lived for art.

0:52.2

It meant sexual liberation and freedom from

0:54.1

social constraint, but it also meant dodging the landlord and burning your poems to

0:58.0

stay warm. But how did the Garrett philosophy of the Parisian Latin quarter

1:01.7

take over the drawing rooms of Bloomsbury and

1:03.8

Chelsea and why did a French war with necessity emerges a British lifestyle as art?

1:09.5

With me to discuss the literature and reality of Bohemian life is Virginia Nicholson,

1:13.4

author of Among the Bohemians, Experiments in Living 1900 to 1939.

1:17.4

Hamina Lee, Gosemith's professor of English literature at the University of Oxford

1:21.5

and biographer of Virginia Wolf and Graham Rob the writer and

1:25.2

and biographer of Balsack Victor Hugo and Ramboe.

1:28.8

Aminally, the word Bohemianism, where did it come from and where did it start to mean more than someone who came from Bohemia?

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.