Language and Literature paper by Lo Bello, Maya J. [withdrawn]
Nyugat [West] in the West: Hungarian Literary Journals in the post-1945 Diaspora
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
As a researcher of Miksa Fenyő, Nyugat and the role played by literary journals in shaping Hungarian literature, in this lecture I will focus on the unpublished correspondence between Miksa Fenyő and Pál Ignotus, editor of the diaspora journal, Irodalmi Újság [Literary News]. From his home in New York City, Miksa Fenyő remained a participant in emigré circles while maintaining contact with figures from the Nyugat circle, such as Anna Lesznai and Pál Igntous, the son of Nyugat’s famed critic and editor, Ignotus. In Fenyő’s oeuvre, his years spent in New York also marked a resurgence in critical and literary works, many of which were published in diaspora journals. While Fenyő was clearly motivated by the need to remain active in the world of Hungarian literature, his little-known correspondence with Pál Ignotus also reveals how Fenyő, the former editor of Hungarian literature’s most prestigious, modern literary journal, supported and guided Pál Ignotus in his attempt to edit Irodalmi Újság. Following a brief overview of the Hungarian-language literary journals published in the post-war era, I will discuss Pál Ignotus and Fenyő’s correspondence in an attempt to reconstruct how Hungarian authors living in the diaspora maintained their authorial identities in an English-speaking environment.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
A PhD student at ELTE BTK, Budapest, Maya Lo Bello is currently completing her dissertation on the critical and editorial role played by Miksa Fenyő in the literary journal, Nyugat. As of September, 2017, Maya Lo Bello teaches at the Foreign Language and Literature Department at the ELTE School of Pre- and Primary Education. She is also Technical Editor of Hungarian Cultural Studies. mayatoth@yahoo.com