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NATIONAL IDENTITY AS A LITERARY QUESTION unacceptable for historical research, but as far as literature is concerned, this association functions effectively. All three versions display a common pattern: after a failure or a crushed war of independence the patriotic side still gains the upper hand by giving a witty rejoinder to the oppressor. The three versions of the story demontrate the relationship between the Hungarian anecdote and history, for which Catherine Gallagher, following Amos Funkenstein, coined the term “counterhistory.”? Beyond this, however, it can also be considered a significant cultural tradition expressing sentiments of national solidarity, which can be reinterpreted and even adapted for our age.” REFERENCES ALEXA, Käroly: Anekdota, magyar anekdota, in Bujdósó mondatok, Lakitelek, Antológia Kiadó, 2015. ASSMANN, Jan: Communicative and Cultural Memor, in Astrid Erll - Ansgar Niinning (eds.) in collaboration with Sara B. Young: Cultural Memory Studies: An International and Interdisciplinary Handbook, (Medien und Kulturelle Erinnerung 8/Media and Cultural Memory 8), Berlin/New York, de Guytrer, 2008, http:archiv.ub.uniheidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/1774/1/ Assmann Communicative and cultural memory 2008.pdf BARTHES, Roland: Structure of the Fait-Divers, in Critical Essays, translated by Richard Howard, Northwest University Press, 1972, 185-197. BODNÁR, György: Az anekdotavita és elméleti távlatai, in A "mese lélekvándorlása, Budapest, Szépirodalmi Könykiadó, 1988. DoBos, István: Anekdotikus novellahagyomány (Ihe Anecdotical Tradition of the Short Story), in Alaktan és értelmezéstörténet (Morphology and History of Interpretation), Debrecen, Kossuth Egyetemi Kiadó, 1995. DuNN, Maggie — Morris, Ann: The Composite Novel. The Short Story Cycle in Transition, New York, Twayne Publishers, 1995. ERDÉLYI, János: Kozmondasokrul, in Nyelvészeti és népköltészeti, népzenei írások, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1991. ESTERHÁZY, Péter: A Little Hungarian Pornography, translated by Judith Sollosy, Evanston, Illinois, Notrhwest University Press, 1995. 2 ” Catherine Gallagher: Counterhistory and the Anecdote, in Catherine Gallagher — Stephen Greenblatt: Practising New Historicism, Ibidem, 54. “The new historicist anecdote was a conduit for carrying [...] counter historical insights and ambitions into a field of literary history. It might, indeed, be said to have carried too many of them in ill-assorted bunches, for the anecdotes often seem to combine desires for maintaining enigmas and for recovering lost words, for anachronizing events and for historicizing texts.” 3 | should like to thank Tamas Saly and James Craymer for their help in preparing the English translation of this paper. * 419 +
