Self-representation and identity: Hungarian drama as a representative of national culture

Authors

  • Péter P. Müller University of Pécs

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.11.2014.28.03

Keywords:

national culture, identity, self‑representation, drama, reception

Abstract

There are paradoxes in the mediation of culture for foreigners. If the work to be offered remains unchanged, it might be indifferent for a foreign public. On the other hand, if the work is adapted to the receiving culture, it will necessarily go through alterations and loose elements of its original identity. The first part of the essay discusses international examples and theoretical aspects of the phenomenon, including the issues of stereotypes, canonization, prejudices etc. The second part is a case study taking into focus the example of Hungarian drama and how it has been received internationally, restricting the investigation to the English‑speaking world. The time frame of one and a half century proves that there have been different reasons why some Hungarian dramatic works had been internationally appreciated, and it is stressed that “delegating” works, views and values is not an effective way to make the world acquainted with cultural values which are important for us.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

PlumX Metrics of this article

Author Biography

Péter P. Müller, University of Pécs

Professor at the University of Pécs in the Department of Modern Literature and Literary Theory and director of the Theatre Studies Program. From 1999 to 2004 he was director of the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute in Budapest. In 1990/91, and 1993/94 he was Visiting Professor in the USA. In 1996 and 1999 he held a research scholarship at Darwin College, Cambridge (UK), in 2014 at the University of Kent. In 1998 he awarded the four years long Széchenyi Professorship. He published nine books so far, the most recent ones are, From Hamlet to the Hamletmachine (2008), From the Rite to the Media (in Croatian – 2009), Body and Theatricality (2009), From the Mask to the Theatre of Death (2010), Hungarian Drama at the Millennium (2014).

References

Brogyányi E., ed. and introduction, New Hungarian Drama. Plays, Budapest 1991.
Google Scholar

Egressy Z., Portugal, trans. by R. Craig, London 2004, Channels (Hungary).
Google Scholar

Esslin M., ‘Eastern Absurdist: Sławomir Mrożek’, Drama at Calgary, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1969).
Google Scholar

Györgyey C., ed. and trans. A Mirror to the Cage. Three Contemporary Hungarian Plays, Fayetteville 1993.
Google Scholar

Háy J., The Stonewatcher, trans. by P. Porter, London 2004, Channels (Hungary).
Google Scholar

Kárpáti P., The Fourth Gate, trans. by D. Kelly, London 2004, Channels (Hungary).
Google Scholar

Lokos A., ed. Théâtre hongrois d’une fin de siècle à l’autre: 1901‑2001, Montpellier 2001.
Google Scholar

Madách: The Tragedy of Man in the Languages of the World and on the Stage. Bibliography, Budapest 1999.
Google Scholar

Madách I., The Tragedy of Man, trans. by G. Szirtes, Budapest 1989.
Google Scholar

Molnár F., The Play’s the Thing, trans. by P. G. Wodehouse, Budapest 1991.
Google Scholar

Müller P. P., Central European Playwrights within and without the Absurd: Václav Havel, Sławomir Mrożek, and István Örkény, Pécs 1996.
Google Scholar

Németh Á., Car Thieves, trans. by Ch. Walker, London 2004, Channels (Hungary).
Google Scholar

Örkény I., Catsplay. A Tragi‑comedy
Google Scholar

in Two Acts, trans. by C. Györgyey, New York 1976.
Google Scholar

Örkény I., One Minute Stories, trans. by J. Sollosy, Budapest 1995.
Google Scholar

Podmaniczky K., La réception de la Tragédie de l’homme d’Imre Madách dans le monde germanophone (1862‑2003), thesis/dissertation, Le Mans 2009.
Google Scholar

Scene by Scene. Set designs for Imre Madach – The Tragedy of Man, Budapest 1999.
Google Scholar

Sengupta M., ‘Translation as Manipulation: The Power of Images and Images of Power’, in Between Languages and Cultures. Translation and Cross‑cultural Texts, edited A. Dingwaney, C. Maier, Pittsburgh 1995, Pittsburgh Series in Composition, Literacy, and Culture.
Google Scholar

Spivak G. Ch., Outside the Teaching Machine, New York 1993.
Google Scholar

Stoppard T., Rough Crossing. Freely Adapted from Ferenc Molnar’s Play at the Castle, New York 1988.
Google Scholar

Takáts J., The Borderless City: The European Capital of Culture – Pécs, 2010, trans. by A. Bocz, Pécs 2005.
Google Scholar

Tezla A., selection and ed. Three Contemporary Hungarian Plays, Budapest 1992.
Google Scholar

Théâtre hongrois contemporain, Paris 2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.44652
Google Scholar

Upor L., selection and introduction. Hungarian Plays. New Drama from Hungary, London 1996, The International Collection.
Google Scholar

Visegrad Drama, Vol. 1: Weddings, trans. by B. Day [et al.], Bratislava 2002.
Google Scholar

Visegrad Drama, Vol. 2: Escape, trans. by A. Zapałowski, Budapest 2004.
Google Scholar

Woolf V., The Common Reader, First and Second Series, New York 1948.
Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2014-04-17

How to Cite

Müller, Péter P. 2014. “Self-Representation and Identity: Hungarian Drama As a Representative of National Culture”. Politeja 11 (2(28):63-82. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.11.2014.28.03.

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2(28) (2014)

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.