Oldal 416 [416]
OCR
NATIONAL IDENTITY AS A LITERARY QUESTION by those who are rooted in Hungarian culture. This information bearing capacity differs from that of Western Europe, in that it contains immanent information, but exclusively for a community with the same national memory and consciousness. This particular feature may be interpreted with the help of “thick description”, a term coined by Clifford Geertz.” Thick description provides both a description and an interpretation of the past, for the Hungarian anecdote includes interpretative procedures and sympathies, too. It comprises a historical text that is not intended to reveal anything, but rather prides itself on its partiality. This characteristic, relying on our background knowledge of national history, evokes a community spirit and urges us to read with a sense of national identity at the forefront. This historically-induced special relationship is illustrated in the following well-known anecdote from Béla Toth’s collection, entitled The Most Appropriate Solution: The emperor, Frances Joseph was to travel to Pest. Officials in charge did their best to make the reception as magnificant as possible. Baron Antal Augusz, the governor, requested Baron Jözsef Eötvös to help him with a good idea for the reception. It shouldn’t cost too much, but it should surprise His Majesty and delight the people. Eötvös shrugged and said unwillingly: — Ihave no idea. After a while, however, he began. — Perhaps there is something... Augusz, his eyes radiant with joy, urged him: — Go ahead! — His Majesty will be riding across the bridge. — That’s correct. — So, on those two poles on the abutment... — What about them? — Well, get Protmann hanged from one of them and get yourself hanged from the other. The cost will be modest, His Majesty will be surprised, and the people will be happy. With this he took his hat and left. Clifford Geertz: Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture, in The Interpretation of Cultures. Selected Essays, New York, Basic Books, 1973; Stephen Greenblatt similarly interpreted the anecdote as an adequate narrative manifestation in order to reflect reality. He, however, did not take into consideration Hungarian cultural tradition, which encourages collective affirmation when creating sensible utterences. (Stephen Greenblatt: The Touch of the Real, in Catherine Gallagher — Stephen Greenblatt: Practising New Historicism, Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press, 2001, 21-30.) * 415 +
