Ludwig Hohl's Paris Journal: Beat Before the Beats
A newly published journal by Swiss writer Ludwig Hohl documents his 1926 Paris sojourn, offering a raw, flâneur's view of the city's underbelly—shantytowns, seedy brothels, and knife fights—far from the expat literary circles of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Written when Hohl was 20, the diary records his foot-bound explorations of "still unknown sectors," boxing matches, a trip to Les Halles, and following a stranger in the metro. Editor Alexandre Mare positions Hohl's psychogeographic wandering in a lineage from Huysmans to the Situationists, via Philippe Soupault, arguing that Hohl's beat-and-gonzo sensibility (anticipating Jean-Claude Clébert) surpasses that of his American Parisian contemporaries. The book, published by Attila, presents a parallel Paris—a nocturnal, impoverished, and violent city—that coexisted with the glamorous Montparnasse scene.
Key facts
- Ludwig Hohl was a Swiss writer, 20 years old in 1926.
- The journal covers his Paris stay, arriving at Gare de Lyon.
- Hohl frequented La Rotonde in Montparnasse but also peripheral zones.
- The text describes shantytowns, brothels, knife fights, and petty criminals.
- Hohl's Paris is traversed on foot due to poverty.
- The journal is published by Attila under the title 'Paris 1926. La société de minuit'.
- Alexandre Mare wrote the presentation text.
- Mare compares Hohl's style to beat and gonzo literature, and to Clébert.
- Hohl's Paris is contrasted with that of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pound, Sylvia Beach, and Gertrude Stein.
- The work is framed within a tradition of flânerie from Huysmans to the Situationists.
Entities
Artists
- Ludwig Hohl
- Alexandre Mare
- Ernest Hemingway
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Ezra Pound
- Sylvia Beach
- Gertrude Stein
- Philippe Soupault
- Joris-Karl Huysmans
- Jean-Claude Clébert
Institutions
- Attila
- La Rotonde
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Montparnasse
- Gare de Lyon
- Les Halles
Sources
- artpress —