On the two narrative models of Hungarian Romanticism
On the two narrative models of Hungarian Romanticism

Summary/Abstract: This study explores two distinct narrative models within Hungarian Romanticism, emphasizing the influences of German early Romanticism and Enlightenment thought. The Determinational Model, rooted in Count József Teleki's 1818 essay, frames Romanticism as a historicized, anthropological shift driven by the introduction of Christian thought. Teleki, drawing from Schiller and German Romantics like Schlegel and Jean Paul, contrasts Greek naivety with Christian solemnity, presenting the human condition as marked by an existential lack and longing. This deterministic paradigm highlights the tension between finite earthly existence and the infinite spiritual realm, shaping both individual and communal aspirations for perfection. This model manifests in early 19th-century Hungarian literature, notably in the works of Kölcsey and Vörösmarty, through themes of insatiable desire and metaphysical suffering.

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