|
#REDIRECT [[Bohemia]]
'''Bohemians''' are inhabitants of [[Bohemia]], now part of the [[Czech Republic]].
Inhabitants come from both [[Czech people|Czech]] and [[ethnic German|German]] stock, due to Bohemia's position on the borderlands between [[Germany]], [[Austria]], and the Czech Republic and its history, which includes rule by earlier incarnations of each of these countries. Because of the many changes in government and the resulting population migrations, one cannot say with complete confidence that a Bohemian is a German or a Czech. In fact, the [[Boii]], for whom the land was named (by the [[Roman Empire]]), were a [[Celt]]ic people, who moved westward. Since then, the inhabitants of the area have been predominantly [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]].
== - Bohemian lifestyle - ==
A secondary meaning for '''bohemian''' emerged in early [[19th century]] [[France]]. It was used to describe a group of [[artist]]s, [[writer]]s, and disenchanted people of all sorts who wished to live a non-traditional lifestyle. The term "bohemian" is defined in The American College Dictionary as "a person with artistic or intellectual tendencies, who lives and acts with no regard for conventional rules of behavior."
This often included drugs and poverty, but, overall, many of the most talented men of letters were bohemians. In [[Paris]] at the turn of the century, the bohemians gathered around the [[Montparnasse]] area. [[Honore de Balzac|Honoré de Balzac]] approved of Bohemia, although most bourgeois did not. In fact, the two groups were often cited as opposites. The phrase itself was derived from the name of the Czech province, erroneously considered the homeland of the [[Gypsies]]. The term has since become associated with various [[artistic]] communities and is used as a generalized [[adjective]] describing such people, environs, or situations.
The story of [[Giacomo Puccini]]'s [[opera]] ''[[La Boheme]]'' is based on the lives of artists in Paris.
|
