Hussards (literary movement)

The Hussards was a French literary movement in the 1950s which opposed Existentialism and the figure of the politically engaged intellectual as personified by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Origins

Its name was coined by the literary critic Bernard Frank, who grouped several figures under the ironic name of "hussards" (French for "hussars") in an article published in December 1952 in the journal "Les Temps modernes", titled "Grognards et hussards" ("Old Guards and Hussars"). Frank chose that name because of Roger Nimier's novel, "Le Hussard bleu" (The Blue Hussar).

Membership

The Hussards were led by Jacques Chardonne and Paul Morand, and counted as core members Antoine Blondin, Michel Déon, Jacques Laurent and Roger Nimier. As in many literary or musical movements, the interested members rejected the label of "Hussards", Michel Déon (in "Bagages pour Vancouver") and Jacques Laurent (in "Histoire égoïste") denying the very existence of the literary movement. Other authors were however consciously attached to the movement, among whom Kléber Haedens, Stephen Hecquet, Félicien Marceau and Jacques Perret.

The Hussards may best be understood as a literary expression of the monarchist "Action française" (AF) or, in a broader sense, of the literary right. Almost all of the Hussards later participated to the "Cahiers de la Table Ronde", renamed "La Table Ronde", a review created for the purpose of contesting the predominance of "Les Temps modernes", and to which famous writers such as François Mauriac, Jean Giono or Jean Paulhan contributed.