Border Cases Cover Image

Határesetek
Border Cases

An ironic view of history and magic realism in the novels In Our New Hont by Lajos Grendel and Border Case by Péter Hunčík

Author(s): József Keserű
Subject(s): Hungarian Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Филозофски факултет, Универзитет у Новом Саду
Keywords: historical narrative; irony; levelling; identity; magic realism

Summary/Abstract: The study is an attempt at looking into the narrative of those writers who have broken with the tradition of presenting minority history in a pathetic way or giving a tragic depiction, but rather rethink their attitude to history and write from a demystifying aspect – among others, by introducing figures of irony and levelling. The novels In Our New Hont by Lajos Grendel and Border Case by Péter Hunčík do not only confront us with the prospect of rewriting history but also, – through the continuous reflection on border cases – with the interaction of various linguistic and cultural media. In the last section of the study the analysed novels by Grendel and Hunčík are interpreted as texts which evoke geocultural reading and are examples of Central-European magic realism.

  • Issue Year: 18/2017
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 76-89
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Hungarian