Hungarian literature

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The Hungarian literature is strictly speaking in Hungarian written literature . In a broader sense, one can also include any literature written in Hungary or by Hungarian authors.

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Only a few inscriptions in Hungarian runes have survived from pre-Christian times . Since the Christianization by Stefan I , only the Latin alphabet has been used. No significant linguistic monuments have survived from the time before the 11th century. In contrast to the Finnish literature with the reconstructed national epic Kalevala and the Estonian with Kalevipoeg, there are only fragments of legends in Hungarian.

Christianity, and especially the Benedictines , promoted literature in Hungary, the literary language was Latin. The oldest completely preserved sacred text in the Hungarian language is the "funeral speech" and an added prayer around 1200.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, Latin historiography dominated. The “ Gesta Hungarorum ” from the 13th century should be mentioned here in particular . The author called himself "Anonymus". Who he really was is still controversial today. Another series of such works was created, in one of them the myth was born that the Hungarians were related to the Huns and their successors.

After the heyday of historiography, Christian hymn poetry came to the fore. The first completely preserved poem is the "Old Hungarian Marie Lament", it was only discovered in 1922 by Róbert Gragger .

The first larger but incomplete translation of the Bible comes from Tamás and Bálint and is called the Hussite Bible . Its distribution as a whole was restricted because it was a Hussite Bible , but excerpts from it nevertheless contributed to the unification of the Hungarian dialects into a written language.

Renaissance

With the Renaissance king Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490) a cultural upswing began in Hungary and numerous splendid codes with Hungarian passages were created for the Bibliotheca Corviniana .

Important Hungarians who wrote Latin were Janus Pannonius (1434–1472) and Bálint Balassi (1554–1594).

Baroque literature

The Jesuits succeeded in recatholizing several Protestant aristocrats. The most important representative of the Counter Reformation was Péter Pázmány (1570–1637). His main work, the "Guide to the Divine Truth" (1613), was an important step in the development of a Hungarian language of philosophy; Prayer book 1606. György Káldi (1572–1634) translated the Bible (1626) on the basis of the Latin Vulgate . Hungarian baroque literature was not courtly, but primarily anti-Turkish. Miklós Zrínyi (1620–1664) wrote poetry, socio-political and military treatises, but his main work is “Szigets Not” ( Szigeti veszedelem , 1645/46), the first ever epic in the Hungarian language. It is about the Turkish attack on Sziget Castle around 100 years ago and the subsequent massacre of the defenders, whom Zrínyi heroized. János Apáczai Csere (1625–1659) wrote a "Hungarian Encyclopedia" (1655), which became important for the language of science.

Enlightenment and romance

An unusually large number of writers were bodyguards of the "Empress" Maria Theresa in Vienna. It was about young aristocrats who were fascinated by Viennese intellectual life and made literary experiments. In addition to Sándor Báróczi (1735–1809) and Ábrahám Barcsay (1742–1806), it was above all György Bessenyei (approx. 1747–1811). His writings, which criticized Hungarian literature and advocated the imitation of world literary models, were influential, although he was not a great writer himself.

In 1794 the Pest magazine “Uránia” appeared, which published only Hungarian literature and no translations. With her, Pest became the literary center of Hungary. The Viennese court did not remain idle and built up an extensive network of censors. Mihály Csokonai Vitéz (1773–1805) was a great lyric poet who used or even introduced rare lyric forms in Hungary, such as the first iambic poem (!?) And the sonnet (not the first). Csokonai is said to have an intellectual kinship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , for whose Magic Flute he translated the libretto . He wrote the first Hungarian ironic epic “Dorotha” ( Dorottya , 1795), in which he caricatured the aristocratic way of life. Mihály Fazekas (1766–1828) was known for only one work, namely his "Gänsemathes" ( Ludas Matyi , 1804), which was very popular and translated into many languages. The fairy tale of the bad nobleman and the good farm boy became a symbol of Hungarian literature. A literary circle was formed around Ferenc Kazinczy (1754–1831), outside of which stood Dániel Berzsenyi (1776–1836), also known as the "Hermit of Nikla".

Reform time

Sándor Petőfi

This describes the period between 1825 and 1848. It was a heyday of Hungarian literature with big names such as Mihály Vörösmarty (1800–1855), János Arany (1817–1882) and Sándor Petőfi (1823–1849).

Vörösmarty is known as a freedom fighter and poet. His most important works include the epic “Zalán's Flight” about the Hungarian conquest (begun in 1823), “Csongor und Tünde” (1831), which is reminiscent of Mozart's Magic Flute, and the poem “Assurance” ( Szózat , 1838), which was written during the Revolution when the "Hungarian Marseillaise " was sung. The national anthem of the Hungarians ( Himnusz ) wrote Ferenc Kölcsey in 1823.

Mór Jókai (1825–1904) took part in the revolution of 1848/49 and was later politically active. As a writer, he left an enormous narrative work. His “Collected Works”, published during his lifetime, comprise 100 volumes. One of the many mostly romantic-idealistic novellas, stories and novels is “A Hungarian Nabob” ( Egy magyar nábob , 1854).

20th and 21st centuries

Imre Kertész (2007)

Gyula Krúdy (1878-1933) was an important prose writer in modern Hungarian literature at the time of the fin de siècle . One essence of his literary style is the delicate play with the means of expression of irony and melancholy , nostalgia and realism .

Margit Kaffka (1880–1918) wrote about the fate of women. The poet Endre Ady (1877-1919), who was in Paris several times , was influenced by Baudelaire . His most important works are the "New Poems" from 1906. Géza Csáth is considered one of the most important representatives of modern literature in Hungary in the 20th century. His literary aesthetic, which broke the taboos of its time and dealt with radical psychological abysses, has influenced numerous Hungarian writers. Alongside Ady, Attila József (1905–1937) is considered the greatest poet of the 20th century. Mihály Babits (1883–1941) translated Dante's Divine Comedy . He wrote novels, poetry and essays. With his pacifism he was not always welcome in traditionally very patriotic Hungary. Dezső Kosztolányi (1885–1936) was at home in all genres and translated contemporary world literature into “Modern Poets” (1913). Árpád Tóth was also an important poet and translator. Zsigmond Móricz (1879–1942) wrote realistic and socially critical novels.

Ferenc Molnár (1878–1952) is the most important Hungarian playwright , the best known is his play "Liliom" (1909). In 1937 he had to go into exile in the USA. Sándor Márai (1900–1989) lived partly (voluntarily) abroad and partly in exile for a long time. Other famous prose writers were Albert Wass (1908–1998), who lived in Germany and the USA after 1945, and Magda Szabó (1917–2007). Antal Szerb (1901–1945) was only rediscovered late . The best-known poets of the 20th century are László Nagy , Sándor Weöres , János Pilinszky and Ferenc Juhász .

The most important authors who began to write after 1945 are Imre Kertész (1929–2016), György Konrád (1933–2019), Péter Nádas (* 1942), Péter Esterházy (1950–2016) with his “Harmonia Caelestis” and the "improved edition" of the same, and László Krasznahorkai (* 1954). Imre Kertész, survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp , processed this experience in “The Novel of a Fateless Man ” ( Sorstalanság , 1975). In 2002 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature for, according to the laudation, “a literary work that asserts the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history”. Like many other writers of the time, Kertész has close contacts to German-speaking culture and is himself a translator from German into Hungarian.

literature

  • Tibor Klaniczay , József Szauder, Miklós Szabolcsi: History of Hungarian Literature. Corvina, Budapest 1963.
  • István Nemeskürty: Handbook of Hungarian Literature. Corvina, Budapest 1977, ISBN 963-13-3505-4 . With the attached booklet: Tibor Klaniczay (Ed.): From the best of the old Hungarian literature. Transferred by Annemarie Bostroem . Corvina, Budapest 1978, ISBN 963-13-3530-5 .
  • Tibor Klaniczay (Ed.): Histoire de la littérature hongroise des origines à nos jours. Corvina, Budapest 1980, ISBN 963-13-3504-6 .
  • László Rónay: Outline of Hungarian literary history. Translated from the Hungarian by Irene Rübberdt . Corvina, Budapest 1997, ISBN 963-13-3911-4 .
  • Bibliography of the works of Hungarian literature published in separate volumes in German translation (1774–1999) . Compiled by Dr. Tiborc Fazekas . Self-published by the author, Hamburg 1999 ( Download PDF, 13.7 MB ).
  • Erno Kulcsár Szabó : History of Hungarian Literature. A historical-poetological account. De Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-018422-8 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Skirecki: Post Comment. In: Gyula Krúdy: Serenade from the pierced heart. Sindbad novellas. Eulenspiegel, Berlin 1984, p. 200.
  2. ^ László F. Földényi: Melancholy and murder. The stories of the morphinist Géza Csáth. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , July 27, 2000.
  3. ↑ The 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature. Imre Kertész.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release from the Svenska Academies , 2002.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.svenskaakademien.se  

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