This study focuses on the literary works of Péter Esterházy, whose output has contributed to the formation of a new Hungarian literary canon. Using Esterházy’s major works, including Termelési regény (1979, Production Novel), Bevezetés a szépirodalomba (1986, An Introduction to Fiction), Kis magyar pornográfia (1984, 1986, A Little Hungarian Pornography), Egy nő (1995, She Loves Me), Harmonia cælestis (2000, Celestial Harmonies), Javított kiadás (2002, Revised Edition), Egyszerű történet vessző száz oldal – a kardozós változat (2013, Simple Story Comma A Hundred Pages), the study relativizes the concepts of identity and hybridity in relation to the life of the postmodern “text” in the Central European (specifically Hungarian-Slovak-Czech) context. What challenges does the postmodern text present for the translator? How has translation influenced the reception of the canonical text in Slovakia?
Questions concerning God and creation are constants in the prosaic work of Péter Esterházy and constitute a topic which the author approaches mainly through the prism of an individual confronted with historical circumstance. This study is a reading of the novel „Egyszerü tȍrténet veszȍ száz oldal – a Márk változat (A Simple Story Comma One Hundred Pages – the Mark Version, 2014), which portraits the dark communist 1950´s in Hungary via paraphrasing of the gospel. The concern here is mainly with aspects of the textual expression of religious experience, which includes philosophical and phenomenological questions about the possibilities of articulation and expression of the individual testimony of faith. The analysis looks at perspectives as represented by the two main characters. The one represents silence as a true communicational space for the relationship with the transcendent; the other represents the alternative of a linguistic approach. The study approaches the historical circumstances of the narrative as a theodicy, i.e. as an attempt to understand the meaning of the passion story in the broader context of human history.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.