László Földényi, born in Debrecen, Hungary, in 1952. Ph.D. from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Associate Professor at the Department of Comparative Literature, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.
Fellow (1 September 2001 – 30 June 2002)
During my year at NIAS, I have worked, as intended, on a research project on the art of William Blake. My focus was the writing of a book on his colour print “Newton”, which plays a central role in his visual and literary oeuvre. This gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in other works of his as well, both visual and literary. My activities were mainly aimed at accomplishing this book, so I could finish it in the last month of my stay at NIAS.
In addition to the above, the NIAS year also led to the completion of a short book on Walter Benjamin’s thesis about the aura in our age. I have always had great problems with Benjamin’s complaint about the disappearance of the aura in the modern age, and now I hope to have proved that the notion of aura is as valid today as it has always been.
I was also able to write some articles on contemporary literature, as well as three essays about the literature and art of Romanticism. I consider my stay at NIAS as being fruitful and also stimulating for my research work.