Kalla Zsuzsa: Beszélő tárgyak. A Petőfi család relikviái (Budapest, 2006)

Zsuzsa Kalla: The history of the Petőfi relics

lay, Sándor Endrődi, József Komócsy, Gusztáv Lauka, Károly R Szatmáry, Ede Szigligeti, Géza Teleki, Kálmán Tors, Emil Ábrányi, Lajos Bartók, Gén gely Csiky, Károly Kertbeny, Hugó Meltzl, Ferenc Pulszky, Ármin Vámbéry and Antal Váradi. They conferred honorary membership on János Arany and Lajos Kossuth, who in a letter acknowledging the honour wrote: ‘For a Hungarian it keeps alive the eternal flame of national feeling, a matter of national importance. 1 salute you among the guardian priests of the fire.’ (Sass 1926, 29) In spite of this, he was not prepared to give an inaugural speech about Petőfi.

The declared aim of the Society was to familiarise the general public with new Hungarian literature and, at the same time, popularise the poetry of Petőfi, their esteemed forebear. Their primary campaign was to mobilise women readers and the young. They were of the opinion that the Kisfaludy Society did not care about their audiences; rooms were empty at their readings; they drowned in the analysis of the classics of world literature and empty asthetics, and set too high standards for writers and readers of literature. The Academy, on the other hand, preferred to organise forums for linguistic debates, and the Petőfi Society was forced to admit that Gyulai’s university lectures did much to familiarise people with Petőfi. They wanted to inspire original Hungarian works and popularise them with readings, and to guarantee the writers publishing opportunities. The representatives of official learning gave the news of the founding of the Petőfi Society a rather hostile reception. At the outset it became clear that the Petőfi Society’s ideas on literature and national culture differed significantly from those of the Academy scholars, since the cubic attitude towards Petőfi was also an integral part of the Society’s vision of culture. For them the word ‘cult’ still had positive connotations, and this was also laid down in the Society’s rules.

In the 1880s the life of the Petőfi Society began to flourish. Readings became fashionable events and in spite of the lack of space and initial discomfort crowds of people went to listen to the humorous, anecdotal readings and recollections. Readers included eminent figures such as Mór Jókai, Gyula Reviczky, Ferencz Herczeg, József Kiss, Kálmán Mikszáth and Viktor Rákosi. This was the first literary society to accept women writers into its ranks, and it was also influential in persuading Ede Paulay to stage Imre Madách’s The Tragedy of Man for the second time. At the end of the 1880 the

weekly readings were being held in the rooms of the Academy, where levels of comfort and prestige were greater still.

In 1877 Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, became the first person to order the Petőfi Society Journal, Koszorú [Wreath]. In spite of this promising start, however, there was insufficient material to fill the pages of the weekly, later monthly, publication. In the absence of original literature they filled it with recollections, essays about Petőfi, news of foreign publications and translations, popularising papers on literary history, and illustrated supplements. Later as a compromise they published translations of novels, but the journal was beyond saving. Thirty books were published in the Petőfi Library series, all on similar topics, but in spite of their affordability and paperback format, most of them remained unsold; target readers were used to reading foreign novels.

The Society was growing in popularity and extended its work to include the provinces. In 1880 the first memorial site was opened. This was the house in Kiskőrös where Petőfi was born, and it provided the basis for the choreography of future celebrations, the small town decorated with flags welcoming guests from the capital. Jókai gave a speech at the house, after which members ceremoniously wrote in the visitors’ book. The reading tours which followed took place amidst great interest, the readings themselves becoming almost lost among the flags, flowers and crowds, lavish dinners, special edition newspapers, dancing with local officers, memorial plaque inaugurations and excursions which accompanied them. In 1882 they visited Debrecen: ‘From the railway station, where Mayor Imre Simonffy gave an enthusiastic welcoming speech, the line of carriages carrying the guests set off for the city to the continuous cheering of thousands of spectators. The journey was a true victory parade along the wide, main street decorated with flags and crowded with people, who even found vantage points on the rooftops. The beauties of Debrecen looked out of the windows, flowers rained down on Jókai’s carriage, hundreds of handkerchiefs waved and thousands of voices called out words of welcome.’ (Sass 1926, 25) The enthusiasm, however, was short lived. There was less interest in Pozsony and the Society sent no representatives to Szeged as there were insufficient writers wanting to recite. Nevertheless, the 1910s saw renewed interest in provincial areas: memorial plaques were inaugurated in Nagyszeben and Ungvár, and a statue was unveiled in Pozsony.

197