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OCR
NATIONAL IDENTITY AS A LITERARY QUESTION: THE SPECIFIC APPLICATION OF THE ANECDOTE IN HUNGARIAN FIN-DE-SIECLE LITERATURE —o> — ESZTER TARJÁNYI ABSTRACT The most significant point on which researchers agree when the anecdote, that most distinctive of literary forms, is placed under the microscope in order to capture its multifaceted character is that it is no easy task, indeed it is almost impossible, to give it a satisfactory definition. This may also be coloured by the Hungarian usage because the anecdote occupies a particularly important place in the Hungarian cultural heritage. In contrast to any other national literature, the anecdote became a most significant and dominant literary genre, which essentially characterised the Hungarian literary tradition at the turn of the twentieth century. Its importance led to the concept of the anecdotal novel. The anecdotal novels of Mór Jókai and Kálmán Mikszáth, as the name of the genre would suggest, are derived from the anecdote and result in what is known in English literature as the composite novel. This kind of novel is mostly comprised of anecdotal episodes which do not adhere to any strict logical order and are associated with a light and amusing tone as well as being coupled with a historical outlook. Yet the anecdote has another important context in the Central-European literary tradition. As a special genre associated with the gentry, itis characterised by national issues and national consciousness. Thus the genre came to represent national identity. Likewise, Polish culture can be compared with its similar form, the gaweda. Just as in Hungary there was a connection between the gentry and the anecdote, so Polish culture established a strong link between the gaweda and the noble, so-called Sarmatian tradition. There is, however, an important difference: while the novels by Joseph Conrad and Gombrowitz can be traced back to the gaweda, Nyugat (West), the representative journal + 407 +
