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ESZTER TARJÁNYI
of Hungarian literary modernity, abandoned the anecdote, stigmatising it as
conservative, outmoded, antimodernist and all too familiar, turning instead
to western literary models. Only Hungarian postmodern writers (notably Péter
Esterházy) have reinvented the features ofthe anecdotal tradition.
In my paper I would like to examine how this old tradition can serve the
national identity and how it can be seen as a hidden path towards literary
modernity.
Keywords: anecdote, Hungarian anecdote, gaweda, national identity
The most significant point on which researchers agree when the anecdote, this
very particular literary form, is placed under the microscope is the inability
of reference books to capture its multifaceted character, and how difficult,
indeed almost impossible, it is to give it a satisfactory definition.
We may gain a better understanding of the anecdote when we see its
place in Hungarian literature, since the Hungarian variation bears specific
features and qualities that are absent in the literature of Western Europe.
A tradition related to ideology and social issues may be mentioned here, as
well as a distinctive presentation of episodes as anecdotes in novels and other
literary texts, thus creating the anecdotal novel as a distinct literary genre.
Consequently, the Hungarian anecdote became a more complex phenomenon.
It comprised both literary and non-literary qualities, endowing it respectively
with poetic and prosaic functions far more relevant than those experienced
in Western Europe. It also represented a culturally determined pattern of
attitude that shaped identity. While a recent American publication dealing
with the anecdote virtually apologises for focusing on this marginal form,'
Hungarian studies continually view the anecdote as a traditionally central
element of literary discourse in its local complexity and variability.” Studying
the differences between the West-European and the Hungarian concept,
which entails comparing a general and a specific approach, may enable us to
form a more relevant picture of our subject.
Analysing the way we understand the anecdote can lead us to a more
precise definition. In the context of literature we are presented with two major
interpretations of the word anecdote. One is based on factual components,
1 Cp. Andea Loselle: Introduction, SubStance. A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism,
Issue 118, Vol. 39, No. 1, The Anecdote), 2009, 3.
? Elaborations of Hungarian reception history: Gyérgy Bodnar: Az anekdotavita és elméleti
tavlatai (The Debate on Anecdote and Its Theoretical Outlooks), in A ‘mese’ lélekvandorlasa
(The Incarnation of the "Tale"), Budapest, Szépirodalmi Könykiadó, 1988; Istvan Dobos:
Anekdotikus novellahagyomäny (The Anecdotical Tradition of the Short Story), in Alaktan
es értelmezéstôrténet (Morphology and History of Interpretation), Debrecen, Kossuth
Egyetemi Kiadó, 1995.
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