Aragon Boulevard or the Description of the Town in his Novel Hunok Párisban [Huns in Paris] Cover Image

Aragon boulevard, avagy Illyés Gyula Hunok Párisban című regényének városleírásai
Aragon Boulevard or the Description of the Town in his Novel Hunok Párisban [Huns in Paris]

Author(s): Mihály Benda
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület
Keywords: Paris; Gyula Illyés; Hungarians; emigration 1919; urban literature; flaneur; atmosphere; 1840; wiew; walk

Summary/Abstract: Gyula Illyés, Hungarian poet, fi ction writer, essayist and dramatist, emigrated to Paris after the fall of the Hungarian Republic in 1919. There, he came into contact with the working class movement as well as with surrealistic circles. Strongly infl uenced by modern French writing, Illyés nevertheless adopted realism in his novels. He refl ects upon his emigration times in Paris in his novel, Hunok Párisban [Huns in Paris]. The present paper focuses on the following main issues in relation to this novel: types of description, panoramic views, walks, atmosphere of certain districts, the stylistic characteristics of the descriptive sequences. Illyés’s description of Paris is a classic example of a type of urban literature that was pioneered in Paris of the 1840s, and was used to celebrate the diversity and dynamism of themodern city. At the center of his description was the fi gure of the fl âneur, or urban stroller, who embodied and represented the quintessential qualities of urban modernity.

  • Issue Year: LXXIII/2011
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 109-120
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Hungarian