Helikon has published four issues a year since 1955. The journal was called Irodalmi Figyelő (Literary Observer) between 1955–1957, Világirodalmi Figyelő (World Literature Observer) between 1958–1963, and Helikon Világirodalmi Figyelő (Helikon World Literature Observer) between 1964–1991. From 1992, the subtitle Irodalomtudományi Szemle (Review of Literary Studies) was added, changing to Irodalom- és Kultúratudományi Szemle (Review of Literary and Cultural Studies) from 1 July, 2016.
The journal reports on the international findings of research in literary studies. It focuses on literary theory, comparative literary studies, theoretical, historical, and methodological issues in modern world literature, as well as the border areas of cultural history and literature. Since 1963, its issues have been thematic: each issue focuses on a specific field or problem, considering the views of the latest scientific
trends as far as possible.
Each issue shares a complete list of all the topics discussed before. Its synthetic studies and review articles discussing specific issues are written by Hungarian and international authors. Some essential works and studies in literary studies are only available in Hungarian in these issues of Helikon. The journal regularly reports about international events, conventions, and symposia in literary studies, documenting different viewpoints and debates in methodology.
Members of the Editorial Board include: Györgyi Földes (editor-in-chief), László Varga (1939–2018†), president of the editorial board; Ilona T. Erdélyi, Zsófia Kalavszky, Anita Káli (technical editor), Judit Karafiáth (book column), Ágnes Major, Vince Muntag, Dániel Szabolcs Radnai (technical editor), Orsolya Rákai, Márton Szentpéteri, József Szili, Andrea Timár, András Virágh
Published by the Research Centre for the Humanities Institute for Literary Studies (Address: 1097 Budapest, Tóth Kálmán u. 4.)
Responsible publisher: Balázs Balogh, director general, Gábor Kecskeméti, director
Pre-press services: Institute of History, Research Centre for the Humanities
scientific information group
Head: Éva Kovács
ISSN 0017-999X (print)
ISSN 2786-1066 (online)
E-mail: Foldes.Gyorgyi@abtk.hu
