The Bouzingo were a group of eccentric poets, novelists, and artists in France during the 1830s that practised an extreme form of romanticism whose influence helped determine the course of culture in the 20th century including such movements as Bohemianism, Parnassianism, Symbolism, Decadence, Aestheticism, Dadaism, Surrealism, the Lost Generation the Beat Generation, Hippies, Punk rock, etc.
They believed that people from the middle and upper class would be offended by the idea of poets and artists acting like barbarians and primitives.
The legends of the Bouzingo are captured most notably by Gautier in "Les Jeunes-France" (1833)[1][circular reference] but also to a lesser extent in Henry Murger's "La Vie de Bohème" (1849).
Marcel Proust, Joseph Cornell, René Daumal, and T. S. Eliot have all cited Gérard de Nerval as a major influence.
Gautier with Nerval and Baudelaire created the infamous Club des Hashischins dedicated to exploring experiences with drugs.