Bohemianism

DEFINITION

A way of life with roots from the Bohemian region of Czechoslovakia where it was thought that many gypsies lived. The term originated in France, and was first used in the early 19th Century in reference to an alternative lifestyle of the "avant-garde", characterized by anti-intellectual philosophies and anti-bourgeois lifestyle. Among &#39;bohemians&#39; were artists, writers, actors and musicians who were often associated with "non-marital sexual relations, frugality, and/or voluntary poverty." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemianism <br><br>Originally, the alternative lifestyle of the avant-garde creative community of the Romantic movement during the nineteenth century, especially characterized by anti-bourgeois and anti-intellectual attitude. This way of life was thought to have been similar to that of apparently rootless Gypsies from the Bohemian region of Czechoslovakia. This mythology continues to add luster to manners and values conspicuously different from those expected or approved by the majority of society.Also see culture.