Language/Literature paper by Nagy, Kinga
The Reconstruction of the Sign in Ágnes Gergely’s Lifework by Translating the Self into the Other (Accepted)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Self-citation, repetition and reorganization of certain texts over time in Ágnes Gergely’s oeuvre is a phenomenon that has been frequently mentioned but not yet systematically analysed. This phenomenon is considered to be a characteristic of Gergely’s works, but further investigation suggests it to be central to understanding her writing. These repetitions and re-writes (over-writes, or in other words translations) form a structure of infinite circles that point to each other very much alike the interpretative mechanism in rabbinical commentary tradition. With the analysis of these circles and the relationship of various texts in the oeuvre Gergely’s semiotics and concept of language unfolds. The vulnerability of the self and the unrepresentability of signs, along with the realization of the linguistic world being a closed entity lead to Gergely’s unique sign-construction and recontextualization that manifests itself in the repetitive nature of her lifework. This sign-construction - especially when replacement is also involved - is often related to translation. Translation as a thematic feature, in this way a field of cultural crossroads (e.g. the novel ‘The Interpreter’), translation as a structural feature (e.g. in ‘The Chicago Version’ the translation of a Kosztolányi poem gives the structural frame of the novel in which the protagonist is an actress who, in the role of Desdemona, finds her own self by citing her English translation of the poem), and translation as a professional practice (Gergely translated poems by Christopher Okigbo, W. B. Yeats, Edgar Lee Master, Sylvia Plath, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, and many others.)
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Kinga Nagy studied Mathematics, Literature, and Literary Translation at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest. She holds an MSc in Mathematics and an MA in Literature, and is currently a part-time PhD student in Literature at ELTE and a part-time Mathematics teacher at SEK Budapest. Her poems, short stories, translations and book reviews have appeared in Hungarian literary magazines like Élet és Irodalom, Műút, Apokrif, Irodalomismeret, Litera and a translation anthology called Pofon. She was a Fulbright VSR grantee for the 2019 fall semester, conducting research at the University of Iowa on Ágnes Gergely, a former International Writing Program participant.