Books from Hungary 1959. 3. [antikvár]

FRENCH BOOKS IN HUNGARY SINCE 1945 i-lungary's orientation towards French culture has never been prompted by material interest. The motives that impelled us towards France hardly ever gave any promise of palpable or measurable advantage to our people who turned to this fount because it was that of truth, of beauty and of humanitv. In fact, it often happened that the Hungarian people expressed their sympathy towards France at times w^hen that countrv had been humiliated by one or other of her neighbours and I believe that so disinterested a sympathy is the greatest homage a culture can pay its elder sister. For this profound intellectual curiosity, that was devoid of all material selfishness and braved the many prohibitions, perils and prisons of the oppressors clearly shows the inner qualities, the intrinsic values of French culture. France, moreover, had also another important role to play in Hungary. Throughout history up to recent times we have had to break through the thick barrier of German cultural, political and geographic preponderance in Central Europe, that always strove to prevent, control or restrict spiritual contact with the West. French hooks therefore played an extremely important part in our struggle to maintain this contact. French books had thus, for many of us, acquired special significance though—relegated to the background as they were—they could not, in Hungary, shine with the splendour that was theirs. Even the greatest cultural achievements are condemned to relative obscurity if they arc deliberately forced into the shade and deprived of free circulation as were French books up to 1945. It was only then that they ceased being regarded as symbols of opposition, emerged from "underground" and were given free circulation. Two completely distinct periods must therefore be registered: the "tirrid" period before, and the "triumphant" period after the liberation of the country. Since 1945, French books have gaily flourished in Hungary, because they have been recognized as good books, full of human feeling. They no longer have "rivals" or "competitors," but simply sisters, or comrades. French books have, however, not appeared in Hungary in a way analogous to the adoption of new, up-to-date machinery. Penicillin or the washing machine are imported from some country or another—it does not very much matter which—and are immediately at home. Their new homeland did not yearn for their arrival, there were no century-old nostalgic dreams about their coming. And just as it is completely indifferent to the material, whether it is being turned over and over again or shredded or mashed to a paste by means of a handle or of a pedal, so can a new technical invention never come to live in symbiosis with a nation. It is not alive and will never have a future of its own, wherever it may be. The position of spiritual sustenance, the noblest fruit of the mind of man has, since the feudal days of long past times, been entirely different. A long road, flanked by traditions, has led to the importation of the first French books. Importation and translation were here preceded by the assiduous and prolonged studv, often for centuries, of French literature. It is easy to understand, why French books never imposed their way of thought authoritatively on Hun- garian mentality. It was not their aim to change those traits of our people that are distinct and national. "They were gentle and bewitching," wrote a Hungarian historian, "yet devoid of al! sentimentality. They spoke to what was best in us and satisfied our purest desires." For us, French books are monuments, not documents: monuments to Thought, Feeling and Intuition. In order properly to estimate the ground that French books have gradually gained it should always be borne in mind that Hungary has only 10 million inhabitants. And let us add that translations are addressed to "the average reader" among the many book-lovers, for the true amateur will read the original. When a nation cannot help "dubbing" the originals two basic conditions must be fulfilled: the work to be translated must be a masterpiece, and at the same time one that is able to arouse the interest of the masses. Let us see how far Hungarian publishing has been able to approach these ideals. In the field of lyrical poetry, there seem at first sight to be considerable gaps. We have in fact few complete editions of one or another French lyricist. There are, however, a fair number of miscellaneous anthologies which can conveniently guide Hungarian readers across the labyrinths of the Renaissance, Romanticism, Symbolism and the various schools of the twentieth century. Rich selections, compiled in good taste by the best translators contribute to a wider and better understand-