István Dobos
IN: Partitúra Irodalomtudományi folyóirat, Volume XX. , Issue 1, 2025, page 3-20 , ISSN 1336-7307 DOI: 10.17846/PA.2025.20.1.3-20
Abstract:
Dezső Kosztolányi (1885-1936), poet, writer, essayist, his own methodological initiative, „psychophysical reading,” can be seen as a further development of the „new criticism” approach to close textual interpretation, with its biopoetic thesis providing the theoretical starting point: „The body is the text of the poem.” „Its functioning is neither physical nor psychological, but rather a combination of the two: a psychophysical process.” Kosztolányi dealt with the biological and physiological aspects of literary creation and reception, offering both physiological and poetic explanations for mental phenomena such as the interaction of the senses, the ability of impressions to evoke new sensations, simultaneous perception, association of ideas, and the participation of the body in the rhythm of poetry and prose. Kosztolányi often compares the relationship between music and concept to that between body and soul. „Psychophysical reading” perceives not only the conceptual meaning of a word, but also its unconscious content and musical meaning.
