On the two narrative models of Hungarian Romanticism

Milbacher, Róbert (2024) On the two narrative models of Hungarian Romanticism. HUNGARIAN STUDIES: A JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR HUNGARIAN STUDIES AND BALASSI INSTITUTE, 38 (2). pp. 307-311. ISSN 0236-6568

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Abstract

This study explores two distinct narrative models within Hungarian Romanticism, emphasizing the in fluences 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. The Autonomy Model, inspired by Meyer H. Abrams’ interpretation of Romanticism, suggests that post-Kantian secularization redefined the Judeo-Christian legacy, separating its spiritual structure from its theological content. This model emphasizes the self’s quest for autonomy, reflecting the duality of human nature and the struggle for transcendence without religious frameworks. Vörösmarty’s neo-mythological poetics exemplify this approach, integrating national and secular aspirations into the Romantic search for meaning. The study posits that Hungarian Romanticism navigated between these two paradigms, negotiating the tension between historical determinism and the desire for self-determination within a desacralized universe.

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