Our Report

Hungary
Hungarian: Magyarország
• In Hungarian version of the name: Magyar meaning
Hungarian; Ország meaning country.
• Magyar is taken name of one of the seven major
semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, Magyeri.
• Hungary’s country name derives from the historical
associations of the Huns: The people who settled
Hungary prior to the Avars.
• Hungary is one of the landlocked countries in
Europe, surrounded by 7 different countries.
Slovakia [N]; Ukraine [NE]; Romania [E/SE]; Serbia
[S]; Croatia and Slovenia [SW]; Austria [W]
 Trivia:
• Hungary's famous city, Budapest, formerly
consisted of 3 cities: Buda, Pest, and
Obuda, until they were merged into one in
1873.
• The creator of Rubik’s Cube, Ernõ Rubik, is
a Hungarian architecture professor. His cube
worked as a tool to teach his students about
3-dimensional spaces, later becoming one of
the best known puzzles of all time.
• One of the former Xerox programmers,
Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian computer
programmer, along with his friend, Richard
Brodie, created one of the most crucial
applications that we use currently in this era,
The Hungarian
Literature
Hungarian Literature
The compilation of written work referred to as
"Hungarian literature" consists primarily of
Hungarian-language works, though it can also
consist of works produced in other languages
(typically Latin), either by Hungarian authors or
on themes with significant ties to Hungarian
culture.
It wasn’t known until the 19th century, when a
new generation of internationally accessible
authors, notably Mór Jókai, Antal Szerb, Sándor
Márai, Imre Kertész, and Magda Szabó, made
Hungarian literature well known to the general
public.
 History
• 10-14th Century
The Earliest Writings in Hungary
The Hungarian language was first written in a
runic-like style, however it was not utilized for
modern literary purposes.
Because the 26-letter Latin alphabet was inadequate
for conveying all the sounds in Hungarian until
diacritical marks and double letters were adopted,
the majority of works from this period were difficult to
read and not comprehensible to modern Hungarians.
No written evidence remains of the earliest
Hungarian literature, but, through Hungarian
folktales and folk songs, elements have survived that
can be traced back to pagan times.
- Funeral Sermon and Prayer [Hungarian:
Halotti beszéd és könyörgés]
This sermon is the oldest known and surviving
contiguous Hungarian text written by one scribal
hand in the Latin script, dating to 1192–1195. It
consists of a sermon's text [26 lines and 227 words]
and a prayer [6 lines and 47 words] with 190
individual terms, not counting repeated words.

- Lamentations of Mary [Hungarian: Ómagyar

Mária-siralom]
The only piece of Hungarian poetry that remains in
tact after many years was written by Godefroy de
Breteuil and released in a free version in 1300.
Medieval Era
In this era, the language of writing was mostly Latin.
Important documents include the Admonitions of St.
Stephen, which include the king's admonitions to his
son, Prince Imre.
Among the first chronicles about Hungarian
history (Both are in Latin):
- Deeds of the Hungarians [Gesta Hungarorum] by
Unknown
- Deeds of the Huns and the Hungarians [Gesta
Hunnorum et Hungarorum] by Simon Kézai
*Both are mixed with history and legends, so they are
not always historically authentic.
Another chronicle is the Illustrated Chronicle
[Chronicon Pictum], which was written for King Louis
the Great by Mark of Kalt in 1358.
•15-17th Century
Renaissance
Renaissance literature flourished under the reign
of King Matthias (1458–1490).
Janus Pannonius, although he wrote in Latin,
counts as one of the most important persons in
Hungarian literature, being the only significant
Hungarian humanist poet of the period.
The first printing house was also founded during
Matthias's reign, by András Hess, in Buda. The
first book printed in Hungary was the Chronica
Hungarorum.
Reformation
Among religious literary works the most
important is the Bible translation by Gáspár
Károli, the Protestant pastor of Gönc, in 1590.

The translation is called the Bible of Vizsoly,

after the town where it was first published.
Another important religious work is the Legend
of Saint Margaret (Szent Margit legendája),
copied by Lea Ráskai around 1510 from an
earlier work that did not survive.
Most of Hungary fell under Ottoman occupation, from
which date the beginning of the Middle Hungarian period
is set, in connection with various cultural changes.
Bálint Balassi, Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos and Miklós
Zrnyi were important poets of the Middle Hungarian
period, influenced by Mediaeval culture.
Balassi’s thematic poems were divided into three
categories: Love poems, war poems and religious
poems.
Zrnyi’s most significant work, Peril of Sziget (Szigeti
veszedelem), is an epic written in the style of the Iliad
that reminisces about how his great-grandfather lost his
life protecting the Szigetvár castle during the valiant
Battle of Szigetvár.
Even up until the 17th century, Hungary was still divided
into three parts, with Turkish rule having no influence on
Hungarian literature, Habsburg rule being open to
• The Period of the Enlightenment (18th
century)
This period was more amenable to French and English
ideas than it was productive of original
developments, though immensely important in the
development of the Hungarian spirit, produced few
writers of the first rank.
The first Enlightenment writers were Maria Theresia's
bodyguards (György Bessenyei, János Batsányia and
many others). The greatest poets of the time were
Mihály Csokonai Vitéz and Dániel Berzsenyi.
The most prominent figure of Hungarian language
reform was Ferenc Kazinczy, who helped make the
Hungarian language feasible for scientific explanations;
furthermore, a lot of new words were coined for
describing new inventions
Hungary was divided between traditionalists and the
Enlightenment, leading to the French Revolution and the
Jacobin conspiracy of Martinovics.
• 19th Century
Romanticism
The literary revival initiated by Kazinczy continued after
his death. Károly Kisfaludy assumed literary leadership
of Hungary in 1822, founding Aurora magazine and
inspiring important writers and playwrights.
Hungarian literature has had a long history of poetry
before drama, with Miklós Jósika being the first
successful novelist. József Eötvös produced two of the
best novels in 19th-century Hungarian literature, A Falu
Jegyzője and Magyarország 1514-ben.
Sándor Petfi was one of the greatest Hungarian poets,
whose works are known for their immediacy of perception
and directness of language, and his patriotic poems
inspired the revolution of 1848. János Arany shared
Petfi's views, but his subjects were often taken from
history and showed deep understanding of the human
mind.
His ballads had vigor, conciseness, and uncommon
•20th century
In the early years, Endre Ady's Uj versek
("New Poems") in 1906 marked a turning
point in Hungarian literature. He was
influenced by the French Symbolists in
terms of style and content, and his rise was
helped by the periodical Nyugat ("The
West"), which included Mihály Babits, Dezs
Kosztolányi, rpád Tóth and Gyula Juhász.
Prose writers associated with Nyugat
included Zsigmond Móricz, Margit Kaffka,
and Gyula Krdy.

During World War I and the years of

revolution that followed, two authors
emerged to challenge both the old
establishment and Nyugat: Lajos Kassák
Hungarian literature experienced a flourishing during
the interwar period, with novels and poems
becoming the main forms of literary expression.
Poets such as Lőrinc Szabó, Attila József, Gyula
Illyés, Miklós Radnóti, ron Tamási, Tibor Déry,
László Németh, Antal Szerb, Gábor Halász, and
László Cs. Szabó were notable for their poetic
techniques and observations.
In 1945, it experienced little change, with György
Konrád and Péter Esterházy being two of the most
popular authors. József Lengyel was a realistic
fiction writer, while Sándor Weöres, János Pilinszky,
László Kálnoky, István Vas, Nemes Nagy, Zsuzsa
Beney, Otto Orbán, György Petri, Szabolcs Várady,
and Krisztina Tóth were other notable writers.
Authors and their
Works
Mór Jókai (18 February 1825 – 5 May 1904)
Móric Jókay de Ásva, also known as Mór Jókai
(common), Maurus Jokai, or Mauritius Jókai (outside
Hungary), was a Hungarian nobleman, novelist,
dramatist, and revolutionary.
He was an active participant and a leading personality in
the outbreak of Hungarian Liberal Revolution of 1848 in
Pest.
Jókai's romantic novels became very popular among the
elite of Victorian-era England; he was often compared to
Dickens in the 19th-century British press. One of his
most famous fans and admirers was Queen Victoria
herself.

Notable Works:
- The Man with the Golden Touch (Az aranyember)
Antal Szerb (1 May 1901 – 27 January
1945)
A Hungarian scholar and writer. He is
generally considered to be one of the major
Hungarian writers of the 20th century.
Szerb is best known for his academic works
on literature. In the ten years before the
Second World War, he wrote two
monumental works of literary criticism,
characterized by a brilliant and ironic style
intended for an educated reader rather than
an academic public.

Notable Works:
- The Pendragon Legend (A Pendragon-legenda)
- Journey by Moonlight (Utas és holdvilág)
- The Third Tower
Sándor Márai (11 April 1900 – 21 February 1989)
Sándor Károly Henrik Grosschmied de Mára, also
known as Sándor Márai (common) or Alexander Márai
(English), was a Hungarian writer, poet, and journalist.
He authored 46 books. His 1942 book Embers,
expresses a nostalgia for the bygone multi-ethnic,
multicultural society of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
reminiscent of the works of Joseph Roth. In 2006 an
adaptation of this novel for the stage, written by
Christopher Hampton, was performed in London.

Notable Works:
- Embers (Originally: A gyertyák csonkig égnek; Candles
burn until the end)
- Portraits of a Marriage
Imre Kertész (9 November 1929 – 31
March 2016)
He was a Hungarian author and the first
Hungarian recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in
Literature.
From the beginning, Kertész found little
appreciation for his writing in Hungary, and he
moved to Germany, where he received more
active support from publishers and reviewers,
along with more appreciative readers.
He’s considered one of the most controversial
figures in Hungary. On which he had interviews
with other media in the world, mostly negative.
Notable Works:
- Fatelessness (Sorstalanság)
- The Pathseeker (A nyomkereső)
Magda Szabó (October 5, 1917 – November 19,
2007)
She was a Hungarian novelist. Doctor of philology, she
also wrote dramas, essays, studies, memoirs, poetry
and children's literature. She is the most translated
Hungarian author, with publications in 42 countries and
over 30 languages.
She graduated from the University of Debrecen as a
teacher of Latin and of Hungarian. She married the
writer and translator Tibor Szobotka (1913–1982)

Notable Works:
- The Door (Az ajtó)
- The Fawn (Az őz)
- Fresco (Freskó)
Links
• Klaniczay, Tibor , Gömöri, George and Sinor, Denis. "Hungarian
literature". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Jun. 2019,
https://www.britannica.com/art/Hungarian-literature.
• Lóránt Czigány, A History of Hungarian Literature: from the earliest
times to the mid-1970s, Clarendon Press, 1984,
http://mek.oszk.hu/02000/02042/html/index.html
• Culture - Hungarian literature
• Culture of Hungarian Literature