Language as a Marker of Identity: the Diaries and Memoir of Hungary 1944-1948 of Sándor Márai

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The concept of identity is quite complex and dynamic and it is something that concerns us in every phase of our life. The topic is even more fascinating when we deal with the importance and the meaning of identity to a person such as Sándor Márai. With the aid of his diaries, in this paper I try to explore what identity meant to Márai, which were the elements of his selfhood, how he perceived himself and how the others perceived him just before and during his first exile in Naples (from October 1948 to April 1952). I’ll discuss the significance and the (symbolic) role of the mother tongue to him as a crucial factor of identity: the Hungarian language to him was something that represented “the only significance of life”…



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Judit Papp is Lecturer in Applied linguistics at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Italy. In 2007 she earned her Ph.D. in Linguistics and literature (dissertation topic: European war poetry between the first and the second world war) at the European School of Advanced Studies, University of Suor Orsola Benincasa and University of Naples “L’Orientale”. In 2012 she’s completed a 4 years long post-doctoral research fellowship in Hungarian Language and Literature (Research topic: Formulaic style in the XVI century Hungarian Epic) at the Department of Eastern European Studies of the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’.