[1][2] It can be dated to a sudden conception Romains had in October 1903 of a 'communal spirit' or joint 'psychic life' in groups of people.
[4] Harry Bergholz writes that "grossly generalizing, one might describe its aim as the art of the psychology of human groups".
[1] Because of this collective emphasis, common themes of unanimist writing include politics and friendship.
[5] The primary unanimist work is Romains's multi-volume cycle of novels Les Hommes de bonne volonté (Men of Good Will), the ideas in which can be traced back to La vie unanime.
[1] Other writers sometimes called unanimistes—many associated with the Abbaye de Créteil—include Georges Chennevière, Henri-Martin Barzun, Alexandre Mercereau, Pierre Jean Jouve, Georges Duhamel, Luc Durtain, Charles Vildrac and René Arcos.