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ABSTRACTS
BENCE IVÁNYI
A puppet theater of mysteries. Janos Pilinszky’s aesthetics of theatre in
The Annunciation of Mary by Zita Szenteczki
In the first part of this paper, I will propose a hermeneutic analysis of Janos Pilinszky’s
theoretical thinking about theatre, mainly based on his essays and on the text of
Conversations with Sheryl Sutton, his famous ,novel of a dialogue”. I will explain
some of his cardinal concepts, for example the notions of mimicry, presence and
beauty, with the help of the aesthetic work of various continental thinkers: Gadamer,
Heidegger, Hartmann and Simone Weil. At the end of the chapter, I will give an
original interpretation on the relations that Pilinszky’s philosophy has with the
concept of mimesis, Konstantin Stanislavski’s ‘system’ and the theatrical culture of
consumer society. In the second part, I will demonstrate that this specific theatrical
approach is able to function as a productive way of interpretative framing as well:
I will examine Stúdió K Iheatres Angyali üdvözlet |The Annunciation of Mary],
directed by Zita Szenteczki, in the light of Pilinszky’s theatrical vision. At the same
time, I will do a theoretical mapping on what are the correlations between the
theatre of animation and objective poetry.
ARANKA KEMENY
Lyric and document. The poet Janos Pilinszky on film
“Lyric and Document” - this is how Pilinszky described his film sketch Requiem
in 1961. To remain simple and authentic: this aspiration also characterized him in
his poetic ‘roles’. Janos Pilinszky was interested in film as a mode of self-expression
as well as an experimental art close to the language of poetry, and not only on
a theoretical level: he wrote filmscripts, sensitive movie reviews and he himself
stood in front of the camera a few times. In the motion pictures made between 1969
and 1980, we can see him in fiction and documentaries, in reportage, in the opening
of an exhibition as a performance artist, or in home movies in a family circle, but
almost always ina poetic role, as he performs his poems or in the context of poetry.
Outstanding among all of these is Gyula Maar’s masterpiece, his friendly conversation,
a “lyrical portrait” dedicated to the poet (1978). “An alarming memory is the
recollection of a film strip. It’s a one-sidedly sharp — and perhaps just a distorting
mirror with precision” — he wrote in a critique. Yet this “distorting mirror” still
shows a poet moving with spontaneous directness and simplicity in front of the
camera; his fragile shape, his gestures and facial expressions, his voice, and suggestive
performance still captivate the viewer today.
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