Piknik a labirintusban (Gondolatok az irodalmi mû és befogadója kapcsolatáról)
Picnic in the Labyrinth (Thoughts on the Relationship between Literary Work of Art and its Reader)

Summary/Abstract: Since every literary piece of art is part of the same human history, readers of all kind are able to receive them, to participate in their catharsis, and to play the role of a co-author. These interpretations based on the common knowledge cannot be validated by means of epistemological (rational or empirical) methods: their correctness cannot be proved by referring to the outside world or some kind of logic, but to other alternative interpretations. Thus, reading literature is like a picnic to which the author brings the words, while the reader presents the meaning by entering a dialogue not only with the work but also with himself. We do not know much about this picnic yet. The reader remains elusive in his actions: does he remain an outsider or does he simply recite the story? Is he fond of spirituality or deep in morality, or, rather, meditative in philosophy or religion? Does he approach facts or does he read naively? Is he a rationalist or does he prefer the larger scope of things? All these open questions show how little we know about the reader. This discovery stands in the focus of the Hungarian sociological and socio-psychological researchers. Their results confirm the ancient truth: knowledge and ignorance go hand in hand.

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