HUYSMANS, JORIS-KARL. - Writer, b. in Paris on 5 Feb. 1848, d. there on 12 May 1907. A descendant of a Flemish family, in which the art of painting was traditionally loved and cultivated, with sure intuition and refined sensibility he defended the then-debuting Impressionism in pages stylistically and critically bold. These are collected, with other essays, in the two volumes Certains (Paris 1889) and L'art moderne (ibid. 1902).

Starting from naturalism, H. surpasses it in a vision of extreme aesthetic refinement and arrives at the supernatural through satanic practices, before reaching the meditations of La Trappe and a Christian death in the expiatory acceptance of suffering. Trained under Zola, when naturalism was in its first battles, and having already made his debut in 1874 with Le dragoir aux épices, in which the influence of Baudelaire is perceptible, he testified to his adherence to the movement with Marthe, histoire d'une fille (Brussels 1876) and Les soeurs Vizard (Paris 1879). Naturalism served H. to exercise his exceptional qualities as an observer.

Having anatomized reality, he indicates an escape from it through an aesthetic and decadent formula in the novel A rebours (ibid. 1884). On the last page the autobiographical character declares the spiritual unease that he has not succeeded in stifling, invoking God's help in his doubts. But even more than in this book, H. made manifest his spiritual change in En route (ibid. 1895), giving, through the protagonist, the account of his religious conversion, which took place at the Trappist abbey of Notre-Dame d'Igny in 1892.

Nostalgic for the Middle Ages, of which he partially recognized only the religious fervor translated into mystical visions and exquisite works of art, he gave in La cathédrale (ibid. 1898) an interpretation of Catholic symbology and demonstrated how susceptible he was to the aesthetic fascination of worship. During his retreat at the abbey of Ligugé he wrote the life of Ste Lydwine de Schiedam (ibid. 1901) and L'oblat (ibid. 1903). In 1905, in Les foules de Lourdes, he united with the pitiless observation of reality the faith in the supernatural.

Variously judged and opposed, having brought into his religious conversion his entire excessive temperament as a man and as an artist, he certainly occupies a personal place in relation to the Church, but one cannot diminish the sincerity of his heart before the God he found again.

Bibliography8 works

BIBL.: Editions: Oeuvres complètes, 18 vols., Paris 1928-34. Studies: K. Bosch, J. K. H. religiöser Entwicklungsgang, Konstanz 1920; A. Thérive, J. K. H., son oeuvre, Paris 1924; L. Deffoux, J. K. H., sous divers aspects, ibid. 1927 (with bibl.); V. Giraud, L'aventure morale de J. K. H., in Portrait d'âmes, ibid. 1929, pp. 171-90; E. Seilière, J. K. H., ibid. 1931; D. Brennan, La conversion de J. K. H. et son oeuvre religieuse, Montpellier 1933; P. A. Pirard, H., ibid. 1945; L. Daudet, A propos de J. K. H., ibid. 1947. For further bibl. cf.: H. Talvart-J. Place, Bibliographie des auteurs modernes de langue française, IX, ibid. 1949, pp. 308-55.

Maria Luisa Rondini

@incollection{ec6_huysmans_joris_karl, author = {Rondini, Maria Luisa}, title = {Huysmans, joris karl}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1518--1519}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/huysmans-joris-karl} }

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Huysmans, Joris-Karl

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