Kosztolányi, Dezso" (1885-1936)
Hungarian poet, novelist, translator, and essayist, was born and educated in Szabadka (now Subotica, Yugoslavia), where his father was head of the local secondary school. Kosztolányi was an outstanding representative of the first Nyugat generation (see Cross ReferenceHungarian literature). In 1903 he enrolled at the University of Budapest, where he studied philology. It was there that he befriended Cross ReferenceMihály Babits and Cross ReferenceGyula Juhász and began contributing to Nyugat. Kosztolányi opposed World War I and hailed the democratic revolution in Hungary in 1918, but he came to disagree with Béla Kun's regime. After the collapse of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, he wrote articles for a right-wing journal, an act that antagonized many of his former friends and colleagues. Later on he was ashamed of this episode and in his contribution to the debate on Cross ReferenceEndre Ady's poetry in 1929 he labeled himself homo aestheticus, as opposed to the politically committed homo moralis. From 1921 to 1936, Kosztolányi worked on the staff of the newspaper Pesti Hirlap. In 1931 he was elected president of the Hungarian PEN Club. His foreign connections and travels not withstanding, he was a passionate linguistic purist who wrote numerous articles against the contamination of the Hungarian tongue by unnecessary foreign phrases.
Kosztolányi created works of importance in several genres. As a poet, his first period was characterized by a somewhat theatrical display of changing moods and emotions. The best single volume of this volatile, "decadent" period is A szegény kisgyermek panaszai (1910; Laments of a Poor Child), a cycle of poems that probe with an almost neurotic sensitivity, the dreams, anxieties, and delusions of childhood. These poems, which show the influence of Cross ReferenceRainier Maria Rilke, blend impressionism and a gloomy symbolism. Kosztolányi's first postwar volumes, Kenyér és bor (1920; Bread and Wine) and A bús férfi panaszai (1924; Laments of a Sad Grown-up), indicate a new maturity in his richly textured, basically sensual poetry. Now, he says wistfully, he is "at home in this world/ and no longer at home in the sky." The poetry collection Meztelenül (1928; Nakedly) is Kosztolányi's answer to expressionism: for the first time he abandons rhyme and adapts free verse to his modern, often ironic themes. The prevalent mood is one of "brotherhood," full of compassion for the poor, the helpless, and the weak, but at the same time contemptuous toward the masses of the modern metropolis. Kosztolányi's last book of poetry, Számadás (1935; Account), is a grand summation of his attitudes and delights, stating once again his "aestheticism" and rejection of the new epoch of machines and dictatorships. This volume contains some of his greatest poems, such as "Hajnali részegség" (Drunkenness at Dawn), his confession of awe before the miracle of existence. When Kosztolányi's virtuosity serves his message, as in this poem, instead of outshining it, he is capable of extraordinary poetic effects. He was also a gifted translator of English, French, and German poetry, although with a tendency to paraphrase the original texts.
Kosztolányi's achievement in prose is equally remarkable. His fiction is never verbose; its clarity, conciseness, and psychological insights rivet the reader's attention. His first important novel, Néró, a véres költo" (1922; Eng. tr., The Bloody Poet, 1927, 1947) examines the psychological make-up of the Roman emperor and would-be artist, and his exercise of power. In this novel, Kosztolányi condemns irrationalism as the nursemaid of all dictatorships. Édes Anna (1926; Eng. tr., Wonder Maid, 1947), can be read as a powerful protest against social injustice. Society heaps humiliations upon Anna, the patient and attractive serving maid who finally commits a seemingly incomprehensible murder. The construction of the plot simulates a folk ballad: tension grows imperceptibly and Anna's determination ripens under the heavy cloak of her silence. Kosztolányi's superb craftmanship can also be admired in the novel Pacsirta (1924; Skylark), the grim naturalism of which is only partly alleviated by a kind of muted lyricism. The setting of Pacsirta, a sleepy provincial town in Hungary is also that of Aranysárkány (1925; The Golden Kite). A more substantial novel than Pacsirta, Aranyádrány depicts the adult's nostalgia for the savage, merrily tragic world of youth. Using the school as a microcosm of human passion, Aranysárkány reaches a deeply pessimistic conclusion about the meaning of life. Kosztolányi was also a prolific writer of short stories, among which the collection Esti Kornél (1933; Cornelius Nightly), concerning Kosztolanyi's bohemian alter ego, occupies a special place. Kosztolányi's stories are not exempt from Freudian simplifications and from an overapplication of the "surprise" element (somewhat in the manner of Cross ReferenceAndré Gide), yet they amply illustrate his cardinal virtues---wit, clarity, and compassion. His numerous sketches and newspaper articles stamp him as a rare master of the shorter literary forms. Kosztolányi's collected works were published in 11 volumes between 1940 and 1948.
See: F. Karinthy, "Az ötvenéves Kosztolányi," Nyugat 28 (1935): 265-72;
J. Reményi, Hungarian Writers and literature (1964), pp. 252-65;
I. So"tér, "Kosztolányi Deszo," Kritika (Budapest) 3 (1965): 26-34;
A. Karátson, Le Symbolisme en Hongrie (1969), pp. 144-224.
George Gömöri
Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature
New York; Guildford: Columbia University Press, 1980