Education paper by Köves, Margit
Hungarian Language and Culture in Delhi, India (Accepted)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungarian is taught in the capital of India, in Delhi, in a culturally sensitive, multilingual surrounding, to students with very different demands. Classes are held in two central locations in Delhi University and in the Triveni Art Center, that gives home for Hungarian classes twice a week for the time of the construction of the Hungarian Cultural Institute. The linguistic preparedness, gifts and demands of the students are varied, but they can be characterized by openness. The talk deals with the interpretation of a Hungarian play, Gandhi’s Death by László Németh, a film, One Day directed by Zsófia Szilágyi and a poem With Pure Heart by Attila József by Indian students. Though these pieces have a local, hindi, and English translation in each case the students also deal with the original Hungarian text, and evaluate the relationship and differences of the original and the Hindi version. The paper will show to what extent the students’ understanding of Hungarian language, literature and culture is structured around commonalities, differences and similarities and bring about a number of local historical and social associations, call forth new interpretation of classical and new literary works.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Margit Köves (PhD) is teaching Hungarian language and literature in Delhi University. She was a fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research (1994-1997) and Indian Council of Philosophical Research (2001-2004) doing research on Hungarian responses to India in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She has co-translated and edited five collections of Hungarian prose and poetry in Hindi.