Oldal 409 [409]
OCR
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. + 408 +
