The Hussards was a French literary movement

French literature of the 20th century

20th-century French literature is literature written in French from 1900 to 1999. For literature made after 1999, see the article Contemporary French literature. Many of the developments in French literature in this period parallel changes in the visual arts...

 in the 1950s which opposed Existentialism

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 and the figure of the politically engaged intellectual

Intellectual

An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...

 as personified by Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...

.

Origins

Its name was coined by the literary critic Bernard Frank, who grouped several figures under the ironic name of "hussards" (French for "hussars"

Hussar

Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....

) in an article published in December 1952 in the journal Les Temps modernes

Les Temps modernes

The first issue of Les Temps modernes , the most important cultural review of the period after World War II, appeared in October 1945. It was known as the review of Jean-Paul Sartre. It was named for a film by Charlie Chaplin...

, titled "Grognards et hussards" ("Old Guards and Hussars"). Frank chose that name because of Roger Nimier

Roger Nimier

-Life:He was born in 1925, and served in the French Army, specifically in the 2nd Hussard Regiment in the Second World War .He began to write quite early in his life...

's novel, Le Hussard bleu (The Blue Hussar).

Membership

The Hussards were led by Jacques Chardonne

Jacques Chardonne

Jacques Chardonne is the pseudonym of French writer Jacques Boutelleau...

 and Paul Morand

Paul Morand

Paul Morand was a French diplomat, novelist, playwright and poet, considered an early Modernist.He was a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies...

, and counted as core members Antoine Blondin

Antoine Blondin

Antoine Blondin was a French writer.He belonged to the literary group called the Hussards. He was also a sports columnist in L'Équipe. Blondin also wrote under the name Tenorio.-Biography:...

, Michel Déon

Michel Déon

Michel Déon is a French writer.With Antoine Blondin, Jacques Laurent and Roger Nimier, he belonged to the literary group of the Hussards. He is a novelist as well as a literary columnist....

, Jacques Laurent

Jacques Laurent

Jacques Laurent or Jacques Laurent-Cély was a French writer and journalist.He belonged to the literary group of the Hussards, and is known as a prolific historical novelist, essay writer, and screenwriter under the nom de plume of Cecil Saint-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. However, other authors were consciously attached to the movement, such as Kléber Haedens, Stephen Hecquet, Félicien Marceau

Félicien Marceau

Félicien Marceau is the pen name of Louis Carette a French novelist, playwright and essayist originally from Belgium. He was close to the Hussards right-wing literary movement, itself close to the monarchist .He received the Prix Goncourt for his book Creezy in 1969...

 and Jacques Perret

Jacques Perret (writer)

Jacques Perret was a French writer best known for his novel Le Caporal Épinglé , which tells the story of his captivity in Germany and of his escape attempts. This novel would later be adapted into a film by famous French director Jean Renoir in 1962...

.

The Hussards may best be understood as a literary expression of the monarchist Action française

Action Française

The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...

(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

François Mauriac

François Mauriac was a French author; member of the Académie française ; laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature . He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur .-Biography:...

, Jean Giono

Jean Giono

Jean Giono was a French author who wrote works of fiction set in the Provence region of France.-First period:...

 or Jean Paulhan

Jean Paulhan

Jean Paulhan was a French writer, literary critic and publisher, director of the literary magazine Nouvelle Revue Française from 1925 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1968. He was a member of the Académie Française...

contributed.