Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/373

* HUNGARIAN LITERATURE. 321 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE. about the beginning of the thirteenth century. From the middle of the fifteenth century until the second half of the sixteenth century there was some activity in the way of translating into Hungarian tlic lives and legends of the saints and the individual books of the Bible. ith the religious revolution ordinarily termed the Reformation there was inaugurated a more important era of literary production. Poetry was cultivated by Valkai, TinOdi, llimai, Balassa ; but no very great degree of originality marked the ensuing period, for from then until the clos- ing years of the eighteenth century JIagyar litera- ture was chiefly one of imitation. Considerable attention, however, was shown to some of the uKjre striking forms of literary art. Thus, dur- ing the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries lyric verse was cultivated ; the drama was started by Karadi (1560) : and much prominence was given in the 'seventeenth century to epic verse, by the poems of Zrinyi, Gyongj'ijsi, Liszti, and (thers. Before the commencement of the eigh- teenth century there also appeared many works of a polemical, legal, and philological nature. During the eighteenth century an endeavor was made by the central authorities to subordinate Hungarian life and patriotic feelings to Germanic ideals. The attcinpt failed, but it resulted tem- porarily in an undue production of books in Latin and German, to the detriment of composition in Magyar. Xear the close of the century, and with the advent of the French Revolution, there was a reaction, and societies for the cultivation of the Magyar tongue were formed, and various period- icals* (the first newspaper in Hungarian was started by Rath at Pressburg in the eighth decade of the eighteenth century) founded in the same interest. The new movement, whieh coincided with the great national awakening in Hungary. bore rich fruit; and within the first quarter of the nineteenth century all foreign elements gave way before it. The credit of this is largely due_ to Francis Kazinczy, the great linguistic re- former, and the poets Csokonai, Dayka, Verseghy, Alexander Kisfaludy. and Virag. The golden age of Hungarian literature was the thirty years pre- ceding the revolution of 1848-40. Charles Kis- faludy. brother of .lexander. created the Him- garian drama by his tragedies and comedies, and his contemporary Katona won great fame as a writer of tragedy. Kiilcsey. by his poems, ballads, prose writings, and orations, exerted a potent influence upon the patriotism of the na- tion. Fay's fables and Czuczor's and Viiriis- marty's popular epics also did much to evoke and foster a true national feeling. In the lyrics of Alexander Peti'ifi, one of the greatest and most original of modern poets, whose "Up Mag^'ars!" became the war-hynni of the Revolution, and in the epic verses and l)allads of Arany, Hungarian literature reached its culmination in the middle •of the nineteenth century. Their contemporary, Ba.jza. was not only an eminent lyrical poet, but an historical writer and sesthetical critic. .T('isika (a disciple of Scott's) and EiUvos. eminent in the field of fiction, exercised a large influence. In the domain of political literature and journal- ism Szf'chenyi, Kossiith, EiJtviis, and Csengeri hold high rank. In the field of history Horv.lth, Jfiszay. and Szalay deserve mention. In 1S4S the powerful national awakening culminating in revolution supplied a new inspiration. Na- tional consciousness prompted Tompa's Folktales and FuUc-tlagun (184(i), and Erdelyi's Uungarian I'olk-iiotiys and Tales (184U-48J, with literary and aisthetic essays. Krdelyi's Poems (1844), lyric in the main, exercised a powerful influence over the famous trio, Petofi, Arany, and Tompa. Arany (1817-82), the greatest ballad writer, surpassed him in formal perfection, and his greatest work also was a national epic, Toldi, in twelve cantos, celebrating the exploits of Toldi, the Uungarian ,Samson. Tompa (1810-08), un- excelled for sombre melancholy, struck the popu- lar fancy with his Poems (1847). In drama, Szigligeti (1814-78), with a wonderful mastery of dramatic development and situation, mostly based on intrigue, created a new genre with The Deserter (1843), which still holds the boards. His masterpiece, Mamma (18.')7), and other successful plays called forth a host of suc- cessors, with the results that 1>lie Viennese farces and vaudevilles were banished from the Hungarian stage. However, the Revolution of 1848-49 doomed many gifted writers to the dungeon, the sealfold. or exile. Lyric poety was under the ban ; the activit.v aroused sought new channels. Arany translated Shakespeare, Tasso, Goethe; Szflsz followed suit with masterly versions of MoliiTe, Hugo, Dante, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Goethe, Schiller, and Heine. At this time the novel, with its opportunities for covert allusions, and the drama gained ascendency. .Jokai (1825 — ), nov- elist, poet, publicist, historian, and political champion, won his reputation, and Szftsz (1820 — ) proved his genius equally prominent in lyric poetry, fiction, and journalism. In 1860 the Austrian restraint was modified, and this gave a new impetus to literature. Tolnay's (18.37 — ) liiiUads (1801) were justly classed with Arany's; his Li/ric Poems (1805) are strikingly original and tinged with melancholy, while the same brooding over life's problems characterizes his novels. Madach (182004) grappled with phil- osophical questions in Man's Trai/edi). his best work. Rakosi (1842 — ) produced in Esope (1800) a comedy remarkable for poetic language and deft character-drawing, while his keen drama, Mafidiilrn. and the lesthetic study of trag- edy are among the best contributions to Hun- garian drama. The constitution of 1867 marked a new epoch: the fight for nalionalism being over, the Hun- garians could look more soberly upon themselves, the wider horizons of cosmopolitanism having opened new vistas. In short stories, novels, and espeeiallv in'his comedies. The flood Pafriols (1872) .and .Veic Men (1873), Toldy (1844-70) gave splendid satires of contemporary life. Csaky (1842—), the most fertile playwright, elicited applause with his Proletarians. Hun- garian literature has its realistic writers, its psychological fiction, the short stories of Gyulai (1826 — ). who fosters the highest literary ideals in his Poetns (1882), his critical studies and university lectures. Abrany (1849 — ). in the character-play. The Infallible .)fan and the nov- els. Who Is Stronrirr? and The Philosophii of the Husband, devoted himself to a study of the prob- lems of marriage. Miksz-lth (1840 — ). probably the most popular novelist of the day. champions the peasants in North Hungarian village stories, matchless in their style, language, and sympa- thetic tone. Finally Br6dy, a wonderful complex