Fin de Siècle

The term “fin de siècle” literally means “end of the century”. But it has often been used to refer to the last decade of the 1890s, and also, more widely, to a sense of moral decay, world-weariness, and pessimism about the future of civilisation, combined with a feeling that one era is closing and another is in the process of coming.

It is a suitable term to sum up how many feel about the 2020s. It’s a decade that has already seen, in no particular order, Covid, four UK Prime Ministers, wars in Ukraine, Sudan, the DRC and the Middle East, the re-election of Donald Trump, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing (and often under-reported) persecution of Christians globally and the continuing rise of China (see John Stevens, p.8). Technology continues to change rapidly, with the increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence, alongside fears about how it might develop. Environmental issues continue to generate strong emotions, with negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty, which might have alleviated pollution, collapsing in August.

At the same time, populists are gaining support in many Western countries, and there is a widespread sense that democracy somehow cannot deliver what it needs to. Many in Britain feel a sense that the nation is broken, but struggle to articulate exactly how it might be repaired. Millions of abortions are a national tragedy, and debates about assisted suicide show a society where many seem to lack any moral compass apart from the sovereignty of the self, its feelings and will.

Underlying all this, as perceptive commentator James Marriott has recently written in The Times, is a “mood of nihilism”. He added: “Many citizens see only a future of establishment failure, economic stagnation and eroding living standards. The lonely, atomised screen age has deprived them of the human connections essential to purpose.”

Ecclesiastes 1v2 perhaps sums up this mood: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” This is not the place to engage in a detailed exposition of the whole book, but these words from its final chapter are pertinent: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12v13). But it has often been used to refer to the last decade of the 1890s, and also, more widely, to a sense of moral decay, world-weariness, and pessimism about the future of civilisation, combined with a feeling that one era is closing and another is in the process of coming.

It is a suitable term to sum up how many feel about the 2020s. It’s a decade that has already seen, in no particular order, Covid, four UK Prime Ministers, wars in Ukraine, Sudan, the DRC and the Middle East, the re-election of Donald Trump, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing (and often under-reported) persecution of Christians globally and the continuing rise of China (see John Stevens, p.8). Technology continues to change rapidly, with the increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence, alongside fears about how it might develop. Environmental issues continue to generate strong emotions, with negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty, which might have alleviated pollution, collapsing in August.

At the same time, populists are gaining support in many Western countries, and there is a widespread sense that democracy somehow cannot deliver what it needs to. Many in Britain feel a sense that the nation is broken, but struggle to articulate exactly how it might be repaired. Millions of abortions are a national tragedy, and debates about assisted suicide show a society where many seem to lack any moral compass apart from the sovereignty of the self, its feelings and will.

Underlying all this, as perceptive commentator James Marriott has recently written in The Times, is a “mood of nihilism”. He added: “Many citizens see only a future of establishment failure, economic stagnation and eroding living standards. The lonely, atomised screen age has deprived them of the human connections essential to purpose.”

Ecclesiastes 1v2 perhaps sums up this mood: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” This is not the place to engage in a detailed exposition of the whole book, but these words from its final chapter are pertinent: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12v13).