Izidor Cankar's novel S poti has long been considered a Slovenian variant of the European decadent novel. Its main foreign models were Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and, to a lesser extent, J. K. Huysmans' novel À rebours. In view of Izidor Cankar's thorough familiarity with French literature and of his literary and political convictions, the possibility of some other French influences should perhaps be considered. As a fervent opponent of the naturalist movement, Izidor Cankar may have used various elements of the decadent novel in order to create an anti-naturalistic novel, thus following the examples of Huysmans and Paul Bourget, whose work he knew and admired.
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