decadence

In literary and artistic criticism, the decline that follows a time of great cultural achievement. It is typified by world-weariness, self-consciousness, and the search for new stimulation through artistic refinement and degenerate behaviour. The term is used especially in connection with the fin-de-siècle styles of the late 19th century (Symbolism, the Aesthetic Movement, and art nouveau). It has been applied to such artists and writers as Arthur Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde, and Aubrey Beardsley.