Attila József
Encyclopedia
Attila József was one of the most important and well-known Hungarian
poets of the 20th century.
, and Hungarian peasant girl Borbála Pőcze, he was born in Ferencváros
, a poor district of Budapest
. He had two elder sisters: Eta and Jolán. His father abandoned the family when he was just three years old. They lived in extreme poverty: the mother could barely support the three children and pay rent for the tiny flat they were living in. Thus the children were cared for by the National Child Protection League and foster parents in the country town of Öcsöd, where he worked on a farm. It was typical of the conditions there that his foster father said "There is no such name as 'Attila'", and therefore called him 'Pista'. The conditions were so bad that he escaped back to his mother in Budapest.
His mother died in 1919, aged only 43. After this, he was looked after by Ödön Makai, his brother-in-law, who was relatively wealthy and could pay for his education in a good secondary school. Later he applied to the University of Szeged
– his dream was to become a secondary school teacher – but he was soon turned out when a man named Antal Horger determined he was unfit for teaching because of a provocative poem he had written (With All My Heart).
From this point on, he tried to support himself from the little money he earned by publishing his poems. He started showing signs of schizophrenia
, and was treated by psychiatrists (now he probably would be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder
). He never married and only had a small number of affairs, but frequently fell in love with the women who were treating him.
He died on 3 December 1937, aged 32, at Balatonszárszó
, where he was staying at the house of his sister and brother-in-law. Crawling through the railway tracks, he was crushed by a starting train. There is a memorial to him not far from the spot where he died. The most widely accepted view is that he committed suicide, but some experts say that his death was by accident.
Attila József is the best known of the modern Hungarian poets internationally. His poems have been translated into many languages and he is taught in world literature classes around the globe. Hailed during the communist era of the 1950s as Hungary's great "proletarian poet", his life, personality, and works are now being re-evaluated with the current celebrations of the centenary of his birth.
His first volume of poetry was A szépség koldusa (1922); at that time he was 17 and still in school. József studied privately for a year, and then entered the University of Szeged
in 1924 to study Hungarian
and French literature
. With the help of a maecenas, Lajos Hatvany, he acquired a good education in Austria
(1925) and Paris (1926–27), where he studied French literature and discovered the work of François Villon
, the famous poet and thief from the 15th-century.
In 1925 József published his second collection of poems, Nem én kiáltok. He was expelled from the university because of a revolutionary poem, Tiszta szívvel. With his manuscripts he traveled to Vienna
, where he made a living by selling newspapers and cleaning dormitories, and then to Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne
. During this period he read Hegel and Karl Marx
, whose call for revolution appealed to him.
József's works were praised by such internationally known Hungarian researchers and critics as Béla Balázs
and György Lukács. In 1927 several French magazines published József's poems.
József's third collection of poems, Nincsen apám se anyám (1929), showed the influence of French surrealism
and Hungarian poets Endre Ady
, Gyula Juhász
and Lajos Kassák
. The next year József joined the illegal Communist Party of Hungary
(KMP). Döntsd a tőkét (1931) was confiscated by the public prosecutor and in 1931 József's essay Literature and Socialism (Irodalom és szocializmus) led to indictment. However, not long afterward, he left the Communist Party.
Külvárosi éj, a mature collection of poems appeared in 1932. His most famous love poem, Óda, from 1933 took the reader for a journey around and inside the body of the beloved woman. József's last two books were Medvetánc (1934) and Nagyon fáj (1936). With these works he gained a wide critical attention. Ideologically he had started to advocate humane socialism and alliance with all democratic forces. Only a few are aware of the fact that it was Attila József who first formulated the ars poetica of transrealism
in his 1937 poem Welcome to Thomas Mann. József's political essays were later included in Volume 3. of his Collected Works (1958).
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
poets of the 20th century.
Biography
The son of Áron József, a soap factory worker of Romanian origin from BánátBanat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
, and Hungarian peasant girl Borbála Pőcze, he was born in Ferencváros
Ferencváros
Ferencváros is the 9th district of Budapest , Hungary.- Name :The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary.- History :The development of Ferencváros began in the late 18th century....
, a poor district of Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. He had two elder sisters: Eta and Jolán. His father abandoned the family when he was just three years old. They lived in extreme poverty: the mother could barely support the three children and pay rent for the tiny flat they were living in. Thus the children were cared for by the National Child Protection League and foster parents in the country town of Öcsöd, where he worked on a farm. It was typical of the conditions there that his foster father said "There is no such name as 'Attila'", and therefore called him 'Pista'. The conditions were so bad that he escaped back to his mother in Budapest.
His mother died in 1919, aged only 43. After this, he was looked after by Ödön Makai, his brother-in-law, who was relatively wealthy and could pay for his education in a good secondary school. Later he applied to the University of Szeged
University of Szeged
The University of Szeged is one of Hungary's most distinguished universities, and is among the most prominent higher education institutions in Central Europe...
– his dream was to become a secondary school teacher – but he was soon turned out when a man named Antal Horger determined he was unfit for teaching because of a provocative poem he had written (With All My Heart).
From this point on, he tried to support himself from the little money he earned by publishing his poems. He started showing signs of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, and was treated by psychiatrists (now he probably would be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person , characterized by depth and variability of moods.The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the...
). He never married and only had a small number of affairs, but frequently fell in love with the women who were treating him.
He died on 3 December 1937, aged 32, at Balatonszárszó
Balatonszárszó
Balatonszárszó is a village in Somogy county, Hungary.- External links :* *...
, where he was staying at the house of his sister and brother-in-law. Crawling through the railway tracks, he was crushed by a starting train. There is a memorial to him not far from the spot where he died. The most widely accepted view is that he committed suicide, but some experts say that his death was by accident.
Poetry
His first volume of poetry was A szépség koldusa (1922); at that time he was 17 and still in school. József studied privately for a year, and then entered the University of Szeged
University of Szeged
The University of Szeged is one of Hungary's most distinguished universities, and is among the most prominent higher education institutions in Central Europe...
in 1924 to study Hungarian
Hungarian literature
Hungarian literature is literature written in the Hungarian language, predominantly by Hungarians.There is a limited amount of Old Hungarian literature dating to between the late 12th and the early 16th centuries...
and French literature
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
. With the help of a maecenas, Lajos Hatvany, he acquired a good education in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(1925) and Paris (1926–27), where he studied French literature and discovered the work of François Villon
François Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
, the famous poet and thief from the 15th-century.
In 1925 József published his second collection of poems, Nem én kiáltok. He was expelled from the university because of a revolutionary poem, Tiszta szívvel. With his manuscripts he traveled to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where he made a living by selling newspapers and cleaning dormitories, and then to Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. During this period he read Hegel and Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, whose call for revolution appealed to him.
József's works were praised by such internationally known Hungarian researchers and critics as Béla Balázs
Béla Balázs
----Béla Balázs , born Herbert Bauer, was a Hungarian-Jewish film critic, aesthete, writer and poet....
and György Lukács. In 1927 several French magazines published József's poems.
József's third collection of poems, Nincsen apám se anyám (1929), showed the influence of French surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
and Hungarian poets Endre Ady
Endre Ady
Endre Ady was a Hungarian poet.-Biography:Ady was born in Érmindszent, Szilágy county . He belonged to an impoverished Calvinist noble family...
, Gyula Juhász
Gyula Juhász
Gyula Juhász was a Hungarian poet, who was awarded the Baumgarten Prize.His first poems were published in in 1899. Between 1902 and 1906 he was a student of the University of Budapest, where he met Mihály Babits and Dezső Kosztolányi....
and Lajos Kassák
Lajos Kassák
Lajos Kassák was a Hungarian poet, novelist, painter, essayist, editor, theoretician of the avant-garde and occasional translator, was the father of many modernisms....
. The next year József joined the illegal Communist Party of Hungary
Hungarian Communist Party
The Communist Party of Hungary , renamed Hungarian Communist Party in 1945, was founded on November 24, 1918, and was in power in Hungary briefly from March to August 1919 under Béla Kun and the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The communist government was overthrown by the Romanian Army and driven...
(KMP). Döntsd a tőkét (1931) was confiscated by the public prosecutor and in 1931 József's essay Literature and Socialism (Irodalom és szocializmus) led to indictment. However, not long afterward, he left the Communist Party.
Külvárosi éj, a mature collection of poems appeared in 1932. His most famous love poem, Óda, from 1933 took the reader for a journey around and inside the body of the beloved woman. József's last two books were Medvetánc (1934) and Nagyon fáj (1936). With these works he gained a wide critical attention. Ideologically he had started to advocate humane socialism and alliance with all democratic forces. Only a few are aware of the fact that it was Attila József who first formulated the ars poetica of transrealism
Transrealism
Transrealism is a literary mode that mixes the techniques of incorporating fantastic elements used in science fiction with the techniques of describing immediate perceptions from naturalistic realism. While combining the strengths of the two approaches, it is largely a reaction to their perceived...
in his 1937 poem Welcome to Thomas Mann. József's political essays were later included in Volume 3. of his Collected Works (1958).
Publications
Original works
- A szépség koldusa ("Beggar of Beauty"), 1922
- Nem én kiáltok ("That's Not Me Shouting"), 1925
- Nincsen apám se anyám ("Fatherless and Motherless"), 1929
- Döntsd a tőkét, ne siránkozz ("Chop at the Roots" or "Knock Down the Capital"), 1931
- Külvárosi éj ("Night in the Slums"), 1932
- Medvetánc ("Bear Dance"), 1934
- Nagyon fáj ("It Hurts a Lot"), 1936
Published posthumously
- Collected verse and selected writings, 1938
- Collected verse and translations, 1940
- Collected works, 1958
- Collected works, 1967
- József Attila: Selected Poems and Texts, 1973 (introduction by G. Gömöri)
English translations
- Perched on Nothing's Branch, 1987 (translated by Peter HargitaiPeter HargitaiPeter Hargitai is an award winning poet, novelist, and translator of Hungarian literature.-Life:He was born in Budapest, Hungary and as a child lived in the small town of Balástya. At the age of nine, he immigrated with his family shortly after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution...
) - Winter Night: selected poems of Attila József, 1997 (translated by John BatkiJohn Batki-Life:He has been living in the United States since 1957.He has taught at Harvard University.His work appeared in The New Yorker,.He collects weavings and textiles since 1975.-References:...
) - The Iron-Blue Vault: selected poems, translated by Zsuzsanna Ozsvath and Frederick Turner, Bloodaxe Books, 2000 ISBN 1852245034
- Attila József: Sixty Poems, translated by Edwin Morgan, Edinburgh: Mariscat, 2001
- A Transparent Lion: selected poems of Attila József; translated by Michael CastroMichael CastroRoberto Michael Castro is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays for Deportivo Quito.-Club career:Castro has always played for Deportivo Quito. Castro first broke into the first team squad in 2006. In the 2006 and 2007 seasons, he was used a lot because of his great ability to defend. However, in the...
and Gabor G. GyukicsGabor G. GyukicsGabor G. Gyukics is a Hungarian American poet and literary translator, has been living in the United States since 1988. He is translating American poetry to Hungarian and Hungarian poetry to American English....
, Los Angeles, CA: Green Integer 149, 2006 ISBN 1933382503
Tributes
- Exhibition of paintings "Je ne crie pas"/"Nem Kiáltok...!" ("I do not shriek") by Thibault Boutherin, a tribute to Attila's poem "Nem én kiáltok" ("No Shriek of Mine") and dedicated to SGG, in the Karolyi Foundation in Féhervárcsurgó (Hungary) August/November 2007.
- American band The Party recorded a country-folk version of Peter Hargitai's English translation of "Tiszta szivvel" ("With All My Heart") in 2004.
External links
- Winter Night: Selected Poems reviewed
- Meeting Attila József
- General Introduction
- Tableau - 2005 in the homepage of Laszlo Forizs
- Five poems of Attila József translated by László Fórizs
- Selected Poems in English (1)
- Selected Poems in English (2)
- Poems in English
- Attila József at Find-A-Grave
- Five poems