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Cioran's A Short History of Decay

1949 · Paris (Paris, France)

In 1949 the Romanian exile Emil Cioran publishes in Paris his Précis de décomposition, in English A Short History of Decay: aphorisms denying progress, faith, and every system, written in a style its author called a slap in the face of consolation. Cioran becomes the postwar period's purest literary nihilist, admired precisely for refusing every remedy.

Tagged: Nihilism

The Event

Date
1949 (exact)
Era
The Postwar Reckoning; Standard periodization of the nihilist movement and idea
Location
Paris; today Paris, France
Traditions
Nihilism
Streams
Nihilism
Key figures
Emil Cioran
Key texts
A Short History of Decay

Primary Sources

  • Cioran, Emil. Précis de décomposition. Paris: Gallimard, 1949.

Secondary Sources

  • Crosby, Donald A. The Specter of the Absurd: Sources and Criticisms of Modern Nihilism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988.
  • Gillespie, Michael Allen. Nihilism Before Nietzsche. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
  • Nishitani, Keiji. Religion and Nothingness. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
  • Reginster, Bernard. The Affirmation of Life: Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006.

Provenance: HIST-1357; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.

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