Borrowed from painting, the term impressionism captures one aspect of the general revolt against realism and naturalism that took place in the early 1890s. Rather than striving to faithfully represent reality, such impressionist writers as the Finn Juhani Aho and the Dane Herman Bang, in some of their works, attempted instead to render the writer's own impressions of observed objects, with a corresponding emphasis on moods and individual attitudes.
Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater. Jan Sjavik. 2006.