It seems existentialism and romanticism are both literary movements which (1) see a man as irrational, and (2) search for meaning in an individual's life. Can we say that these movements are essentially the same, but happened in different times? For example, is authenticity of an individual equally important to both?
Can we say that Pushkin was existentialist, the same as Dostoyevsky?
Both Romanticism and Existentialism are movements, meaning they characterize some fashion, prevalent worldview of certain time period. Romanticism is associated more with art, while Existentialism is associated with philosophy. Both terms characterize the respective time period. The terms are rather vague. For example, we read in Wikipedia^ "The labels existentialism and existentialist are often seen as historical conveniences in as much as they were first applied to many philosophers long after they had died." If we consider main ideas of these two movements, we see lots of common themes between them. First of all, they both belong to irrationalism. And this complex of ideas comes from ancient East and from European Antiquity (see Socrates, for example). These ideas are perennial, but every new follower adds something new to them. The difference between two existentialists (like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard) may be bigger than a difference between an existentialist and a romanticist. So, to understand a writer, it may be less helpful to identify the movement where he belongs, than to identify his prevalent worldview, main ideas. Both Pushkin and Dostoevsky, for example, did not fit in a particular movement, a particular thought fashion. They both were trailblazers, not followers of a fashion.
