ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Parnassianism

Parnassianism is like playing dress-up, but with words instead of clothes. Just like you might put on a fancy costume to be a princess or a superhero, writers who follow Parnassianism use very fancy and complicated words to describe things in their writing.

But just like how you might have to ask your mom or dad to help you with a costume that's too big or too hard to put on, readers who come across Parnassian writing might need to use a dictionary to understand what the writer is saying!

Parnassianism was actually a movement of poets in the 1800s who believed that poetry should be very formal and polished, with lots of fancy words and intricate descriptions. They wanted to create beautiful poetry that was perfect in every way, like a piece of art. It's kind of like how you might spend a long time coloring in a picture, trying to make every part perfect.

So if someone talks about Parnassianism, they're usually talking about this type of poetry that's fancy, formal, and often not easy to understand without some extra help.
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