Iskolaregény az erdélyi magyar irodalomban
School Novels in Transylvanian Hungarian Literature

Summary/Abstract: The article examines three lesser-known novels from Transylvanian Hungarian literature in order to identify the distinctive characteristics of the Hungarian school story within the specific historical and cultural context of Transylvania. Focusing on Ignácz Rózsa's Anyanyelve magyar (Her Mother Tongue Is Hungarian), Gyula Kormos's A hattyúk felrepülnek (The Swans Take Flight), and Dénes Tamás's Az élő ház (The Living House), the author explores how the conventional features of the school story are adapted to different historical periods, ideological frameworks, and aesthetic expectations. While the first two novels depict school life in periods close to their publication – the late 1920s and the years following the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, respectively – Tamás’s 2019 novel retrospectively reconstructs the school environment of the 1990s. Through a comparative analysis, the article demonstrates how these works employ the school setting to address broader questions of identity formation, language, education, and community, while simultaneously reflecting the political and cultural realities of twentieth-century and post-socialist Transylvania.

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