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BOX-FOLDER-REPORT: 33-3-117
TITLE:             The Literary Scene in Hungary, January-July 1966
BY:                AB
DATE:              1966-9-9
COUNTRY:           Hungary
ORIGINAL SUBJECT:  Hungarian Unit
THEMATIC SUBJECTS: Hungary--1966-1975, Hungary--Literature, Cultural Policy

--- Begin ---

RADIO FREE EUROPE Research

EAST EUROPE

HUNGARY
9 September 1966

THE LITERARY SCENE IN HUNGARY JANUARY-JULY 1966

"The writers are like the fly which settles on a neap and
believes it is pulling the carriage." [1] This sarcastic remark,
made by Kadar in August 1956, reveals the panic terror with which the
Party apparatus views the activities of the writers. The past 10
years have demonstrated this fear. Party guidance has simply not
proved effective enough in literature and artistic life. It even
seems in some areas that control has slipped from the hands of the
Party. The literary events of 1966 indicate that the Communist Party,
aware of this fact, is trying to pursue a more realistic literary
policy.

New Evidence of a More Realistic Literary Policy

Since the publication of the Ideological Directives
(April 1965), two essays, worthy of attention, have been published
in 1966. The first deals with the attitude of Party members to art,
[2] and the other with the mission of literature and the arts in
society. [3] Both essays try to outline the situation in an
objective way, as well as to draw up the postulates which should be
followed in the cultural policy of the Party.

One of the essential statements of the essay on the attitude
of Party members to art is that there is no uniform and common
attitude to art within the Party. As a result of dogmatist and
revisionist influences, the cognizant and emotional world of the
Party members is divided. Even more, the majority of the Party
members are completely disoriented. They do not read the critical,
literary and art periodicals. As a result of this, very often, art

-------------------

(1) Tamas Aczel and Tibor Meray: Tisztito vihar (Purifying Storm;
English title: The Revolt of the Mind),Big Ben Publishing Co.,
London 1959 (page 380).

(2) Tarsadalmi Szemle, April 1966.

(3) Tarsadalmi Szemle, July-August 1966. HPS No.1735.

[page 2]

policy and some of the Party members clash over the estimation of
some artistic works. In a quite interesting way, the targets of
the conflicts are very often works of a definitely socialist realistic
"genre," some literary works, plays, movies or some works of the fine
arts which are favored "by the Marxist art critics. Thus, for example,
the movie: Twenty Hours, which won the first prize at the Moscow Film
Festival, was discussed for months. The dramas by Bertold Brecht
were received with indifference. Certainly, the group of the Party
members involved in those conflicts sharply rejects most of the
cultural products coming to Hungary from the West as well. The
majority of those who represent this opinion belong to the older
generation. The younger people -- the 25 to 30-year-old Party
members -- have a more profound attitude to art, reveal greater
interest and, contrary to the "stick-in-the-mud" attitude of the
older ones, they are free from prejudice, have a broader horizon
and are more liberal.

But tension In the attitude to art can be seen not only
between the generations. This tension can be observed, regardless
of generations, all through the Party apparatus. Even the opinion
of the experts who are working out cultural policy differs on many
points. Because of this, the essays of the Cultural Theoretical
Cooperative of the HSWP CC are not specific, definite standpoints,
but a number of theses which could serve as a basis for further
discussion and in which some questions are left open because of the
differing standpoints of the members of the cooperative. [4]

These differences are even more obvious as far as the
standpoint of the writers and audience is concerned. This is clearly
demonstrated in the above-mentioned second essay of the Cultural
Theoretical Cooperative: "The Mission of Literature and Art in Our
Society." The situation reveals not only the strong influence of
intellectual trends opposed to Communism, but also the effect of
the slow reconsideration of Marxist ideology on Hungarian cultural
life. As is known, there is an often repeated reference -- in the
course of debates on the freedom of literature -- to the demand of
the Italian Communists to guarantee autonomy to culture. [5] The
essay also shows some signs of ideological tolerance. This is
manifested, in the first place, in the fact that it takes a more
understanding and compliant stand toward views contrary to the Marxist
attitude. On a number of occasions, the essay sharply rejects the

-------------------

(4) See the introductory chapter of the essay "Socialist
Realism," in Tarsadalmi Szemle, February 1965, (page 30).

(5) Bela Kopeczi: "The Modernity of Socialist Realism,"
Kritika, July 1965, (page 15).

[page 3]

dogmatic, sectarian literary, political and critical standpoints.
Tolerance is further manifested in the fact that it recognizes the
right of the writers -- including the right of the non-Communist
writers -- to expose and criticize, without pretense, the
difficulties and the negative sides as well. This is a remarkable standpoint,
because storms of criticism have raged over the sociographical reports
of the recent past. The essay reveals a remarkable objectivity while
analyzing the difficulties as the result of the decentralized structure
of literature, as well as the limits and difficulties of Party and
state guidance.

The latest stand of the Cultural Theoretical Cooperative
of the HSWP is a hopeful sign that the liberalized literary policy
of the Kadar regime might not become rigid. Many things which were
taboo yesterday are possible and can be appreciated today. There is
growing hope, in the shadow of a more realistic literary policy, that
perhaps that which is still taboo today will be permitted tomorrow.

"Die unbewältigte Vergangenheit" - Nonconformity - "Windows Open in
All Directions"

The HSWP CC made an interesting remark in the directives
concerning modern ideological tasks. "There are some people who say
that the central question and almost exclusive subject of literature
is the criticism of the personality cult."[6] There is an intensive
drive in Hungarian literature to liquidate the gloomy heritage of the
Stalinist-Rakosi-ist past and those who are carrying out this
liquidation display great courage and determination in their work. It seems
that, on this question. the opinion of the writers and Party officials
is becoming polarized. The process, which started years ago, has
deepened in the first half of 1966. The following statements should
serve as examples:

Elet es Irodalom published an interview with the Hungarian
"Solzhenitsyn," Jozsef Lengyelp (1896-), who had been brutally defamed
in the Soviet Union during the era of Stalin. [7] Lengyel related in
this interview that, years ago, "an influential Party official" warned
him that his works did not help clarify things and that he was actually
non-competent in the literary depiction of the personality cult. In
the opinion of Lengyel2 "There is no cult without the ones who
cultivate the cult, the roots of this cult must be eliminated. . .
some people are inclined to forget what is not good to be remembered."[8]

-------------------

(6) Tarsadalmi Szemle, April 1965, page 35.

(7) BR. "The Hungarian 'Solzhenitsyn' Speaks Up." 26 March 1963.

(8) Elet es Irodalom, 7 May 1966.

[page 4]

In his works, Jozsef Lengyel actually paints a broad panorama of the
era of violation of the law, suffering and humiliation. Most of his
stories are based on experiences of moral and physical ordeals
suffered in the era of the personality cult. He is quite popular. On
the occasion of the 1966 book week, almost 10,000 copies of his
collected works, under the title To Measure the Immeasurable, were
published. The first volume of the new series of the Szepirodalmi
Kiado Publishing House (Belletristic "Publishers): Faces and
Confessions, deals with his person. On the other hand, it is true that the
portrait of Lengyel in this volume does not mention the courageous
stand which Lengyel took in the course of the liquidation of the
personality cult.

The writer Istvan Gall (1931-), the playwright of the
Hungarian State Radio Network, has attracted attention with his short
novel, The Trap, during past months. [9] The novel is actually an
excellent example of the kind of engaged literature which supports
the Kadar line, but, at the same time, criticizes the serious mistakes
of the inglorious Communist past in a courageous way. He takes a firm
stand in the widely discussed question whether the crimes of the
personality cult should be exposed. As one of the heroes of the novel
remarks, "in general, it would be good to know about many things. As
a matter of fact, we should know about everything. What happened? Why
did it happen? How did it happen? One should look for the reasons."

According to its character, as a documentary portrayal of
an era, the short novel illustrates the aberrations of the
personality cult: the activities of the AVO, the inhuman way of
interrogation, the false trials, the covering up of crimes, the labor camps,
internments, kulaks, the despised intellectuals and the
disappointments behind the Stakhanovite achievements.

For the sake of illustration, here are a few excerpts
describing the inhuman methods used in interrogations:

"One of our interrogators was a sadist. A bloke with a
milky face, large ears and a long head. . . Hair-raising stories had
been told about him. . . They said that he burns the testicles of
prisoners with a cigar, he drives a gun barrel up the anus of
prisoners until they die. A priest was dying in the next cell, one of his
victims. . .

Do I have connections abroad? What was the reason why I
wanted to flee to the West? What kind of a foreign espionage
organization was I working for? Those were the questions I had to answer.

---------------

(9) Kortars, May-June 1966.

[page 5]

And because I did not admit anything, they started to beat me. And
then, all of a sudden, they stopped beating me and I had a good life.
The only thing I had to do was to write my life history twice a day.
They evaluated my story arid if I changed even so much as one word,
they would interrogate me ail night. After two weeks, they returned
to the beatings. They nailed the soles of my boots to my feet.
Certainly, it did not hurt, but then I had to stand all night in the
corridor. My feet swelled up in my boots and I licked the wall.
And, after this, we played the "Korean game": in a duck walk, I had
to blow a cigarette-paper all the way down the corridor. I couldn't
stand it and I simply fainted. But they have done other things to
me, too. . .

Finally, they put a paper in front of me, my 'confession.'
I was to put my signature to it. I took up the pen, but the
interrogator told me to read it first. No. I wouldn't read it," I said,
'because if I do so, I cannot sign it.' I learned about my
'confession' at the trial. There was espionage, conspiracy and a lot of other
things. I was quite surprised that I got only 15 years" [10]

We can read in the short novel the following about the work
methods of a highly praised Stakhanovite:

"Do you remember the names Viragos? The Viragos Brigade?
Szabad Nep wrote about it every week and it was known all over the
country... It managed to do three shifts -- twenty-four hours' worth
of work -- all at once. At first, the papers wrote about this
achievement. And then, the fantastic production results followed! 200 per
cent, 500 per cent, 1,OOO per cent. The sky was the limit. Everybody
knew the name Viragos. His picture -- the size of the cupola of the
basilica -- hung here on Stalin Square. He became a member of the
National Peace Committee, an honorary member of the Council of the
Miners' Trade Union. Rakosi talked to him in Parliament. He was
photographed with actors and he appeared in the newsreels. But this
was only the outside appearance. What was behind the high numbers?
The majority of the workers in Shaft No.6 were prisoners. War
criminals , political prisoners and common criminals. They were the
ones who laid the 'groundwork' for the viragos brigade. Their group
did the ground breaking, even on two fronts if it was necessary, the
support setting and transportation was done by others. This is
cheating, eyewash, trickery. But it was enough to show up with it. . . Later
the method was worked out. Viragos became a miner. The three shifts
were led by three miners, but only the shift of Viragos produced,
the other two performed just the preparatory work and then did most

--------------------

(10) Kortars, May 1966, page 706-707.

[page 6]

of the work. Again, extraordinary results: Shaft No.6 produced in
one shift so and so much coal for the people's economy. . . Papers,
radio reports, newsreels. . . And all this in a shaft which was
considered dangerous from the very beginning, (during the war, prisoners
had worked that shaft). [11]

The new novel by Tibor Dery (1894-), one of the
outstanding personalities of Hungarian prose literature, The Excommunicator,
was published in 1966. [12] On the basis of the excerpts published
earlier in Kortars, the symbolic aspects of the story of the Fourth
Century St. Ambrose became quite evident. [13] The review of the novel
by Istvan Orkeny, published in Uj Iras, gives a detailed analysis
of this symbolism. Here are a few sentences from the review:

"The court trial of the assassin, Innocentus, reminds us
of the live broadcast of the Rajk trial, the Aquileian Council reminds
us of a Party meeting where somebody who had had correspondence with
his brother-in-law living in the United States or who had refused to
sign the Peace Loan, had the chance 'freely to express his opinion.'
Just as the richly gilded statue of the Goddess of Victory, which had
been removed from the Senate conference chamber and now collects
dust in the attic, reminds us of the same thing. . . On such occasions,
the only thing we can say is that the writer 'converts the past into
reality' on the pretext of writing about the life of the Bishop
St. Ambrose. But all this does not go for this novel. It is more
correct to say that Dery -- if we can use such an expression -- is
'multiplying' the present." [14]

Dery's excellent work belongs in the category of
novelettes, novels and plays which are exposing the mistakes of the
personality cult.

Not only the category of belles-lettres, but political
literature also turns to the past. Among the increasing number of
memoirs, two works worthy of attention have been published during
1966.

One is by Sandor Nogradi (1894-), the chairman of the
Central Control Committee of the HSWP, The Start of a New Chapter
in History. The veteran Muskovite and partisan Nogradi, who had

------------------

(11) Kortars, May 1966, pages 685-686.

(12) The biography of Tibor Dery, Hung. BR, 20 September 1962.

(13) BR Hung.Unit, "New Dery Novel Alludes to Stalinist
Show Trials," 16 June 1965.

(14) Uj Iras, July 1966, page 116.

[page 7]

quite a career in the Communist apparatus, reports, in a blunt way,
on the human and political mistakes of the Rakosi regime and the
Rakosi clique (Rakosi-Gero-Farkas). Here are a few excerpts from
Nogradi's book:

"At the time of the illegal trials, Rakosi paid great
attention to the attempt to make as many people as possible his
indirect accomplices. He did this to the Presidium of the Party
when he convinced them of 'the sound foundations' of the charges
against Rajk. (page 164)

"The clique made wide use of the means of intimidation.
They were able to do so because they had full authority over the
state security authorities which, on the other hand, were rightly
feared by the people. Little reason was needed for the internment
of people. Almost no reason at all was needed for the relocation
of people, they were declared 'undesirable elements' even if they
happened to be born in Budapest and had no police record at all.
(page 174)

"There was no legal ground for thousands of arrests and
internments. Rakosi considered this the 'natural' condition of the
revolution. 'By George, they should feel the presence of the
dictatorship of the proletariat.' (page 177)

"It is known that there were luxurious villas at the 
disposal of the members of the clique. In the villa of Farkas, there
was a movie theater, poolroom and, in the park, a tennis court and
playgrounds. He considered it quite natural that he had such a
palace." (pages 197-198)

There is no doubt that the book was written in the
interest of the Kadar regime, as well. The reviews, published all over
the country, have praised the book. The first 10,000 copies of the
book were sold out within days. Most of the readers were attracted
by the exciting theme of the book. The public reacts, in a
sensitive way, to all publications which expose the crimes of the
Communists and the faults of the regime.

Another interesting volume among Communist
autobiographical accounts are the memoirs of the former Hungarian foreign
minister and Muskovite, Endre Sik (1891-), The Notes of a Diplomat.
Sik writes the history of his diplomatic assignment in America.
"While reading the book, the question arises: was all that happened
around 1945 a normal development? Was the desertion of so many new
and old diplomats in the foreign service necessary? Could all this
have been prevented? Did the era, which made so many mistakes.

[page 8]

play a role in the desertions?" These are some of the questions
raised by one of the critics.[15]

As the above-mentioned examples show, the literature
dealing with the era of the personality cult -- in the fields of
belletristics and memoir literature -- has acquired significant new
works during the first half of 1966. The request has also been
voiced that literature take up the person of some of the Communist
leaders who were discriminated against.[16] Besides this, there
are plans which will shed more light on the Rakosi era. The master
of "socialist trash literature," Andras Berkesi, has announced that
he will write about prison life in the '50s and plans to write a
drama about Laszlo Rajk, who was executed by Rakosi. [17]

But some of the Party officials and cultural bosses
disapprove of literature exposing and criticizing the era of the
personality cult. The so-called literary "sectarian" line, which
is quite sensitive to all "debatable or questionable" works, condemns
and considers as harmful the digging up of the past. "We do not
think that it would be useful if our dramatic literature were to
deal at too great length with the characteristics, events and
results of the personality cult," writes a drama critic in
connection with a premiere in the provinces.

Nonconformist Ars Poetica

The latest essay of the Cultural Theoretical Cooperative
of the HSWP deals, in a special chapter, with non-Party ars poetica,
In 1966, there were a number of public expressions which gave
primacy to higher ethical values over the mere support of socialism
or, at least, its Communist form.

The poet Perenc Juhasz (1928-), for example, stated the
following about the mission and task of poetry:

"The poet should tell about the world -- according to the
knowledge, emotion and impulse of the individual -- he should love
life, because life is lovable and lonesome. The poet should always

-------------------------

(15) Magyar Nemzet, 17 July 1966.

(16) Veszprem Megyei Naplo, 17 July 1966, Fejer Megyei Hirlap, 10
July 1966.

(17) Elet es Irodalom, 3 July 1965.

[page 9]

protest against stupidity, arrogance, tyranny, suppression,
exploitation in the name of human dignity and respect and the poet should
never stop pointing out that the only meaning of human existence is
freedom. And that nobody has the right to take this away from the
individual or mankind."[18]

The ars poetica of the Communist Jozsef Lengyel is:

"The artist does not work at the order of the readers or
the critics -- this question (the mission, benefit and effect of
literature --ed.) is being simplified by a number of
well-intentioned non-professionals -- the artist works under emotional
pressure, in agony, while creating something. Art and conformity cannot
go together and only works which say something nobody else has ever
said before could be called art. They bring new things to the world.
To say something new and something different increases the
responsibility of the artist."[19]

The nonconformist and oppositional attitude to socialist
realism of the author of Twenty Hours, Ferenc Santa (1927-),
attracted great attention, not only at the latest meeting of the
Writers' Association,[20] but also earlier, at the university
debate.[21] The standpoint of Santa has confused many Party
members. [22] This may be traced back to the Party thesis which claims
that it is the work and not its creator which will have the decisive
say in the estimation of art, even considering the fact that, in
other respects, the public activities of the artists are also
important. [23]

Miklos Meszoly (1921-), whose existentialist work, The
Death of An Athlete, has prompted the vitriolic criticism of drama
critics, has stated his artistic standpoint as follows:

"I never had, and still don't have, a dogmatic ideology.
The writer always tries to see behind the dogmas and so he will,
willy-nilly, become a 'romantic' because what he recommends is

---------------------

(18) Uj Iras, April 1966, page 10.

(19) Blet es Irodalom, 7 May 1966.

(20) BR. Hungarian Unit, "General Meeting of the Hungarian Writers'
Association, Summary," 30 December 1965.

(21) Elet es Irodalom, 27 March 1965.

(22) Tarsadalmi Szemle, April 1966, page 57.

(23) Tarsadalmi Szemle; April 1966, page 57.

[page 10]

never practical, he overstrains his filaments beyond the limits of
the reasonable and tolerable to the point where the theses become
merely intellectual imputations and where the natural insecurity and
the lyricism of concrete ambiguity promise a more durable secret.
Maybe because of this, I am attracted more toward the tableau of
suffering than of joy, but much more toward, hope than indifference.
I believe that art can really be itself only so long as it tries to
unite beauty and honest insult."[24]

By the way, The Death of An Athlete was first published
in Paris in French by Seul Publishers and only later, on the
insistent demand of the Hungarian public in Hungarian, but only in a
limited number of copies.

"Windows Open in All Directions"

With the help of various media, the influence of Western
literature has further strengthened in 1966, when compared to
conditions of years ago. Not only the writers but also the Hungarian
readers have learned, relatively fast, about literary events in the
west.

One of those media is the world literary periodical
Nagyvilag (The Great World) which was founded in 1956. The primary
task of the monthly which is published in about 23,000 copies, was,
from the beginning, to enrich and raise the level of the Hungarian
people's knowledge of world literature. The articles of Nagyvilag,[25]
have clarified the relations between "Western bourgeois literature"
and "socialist culture," they have also worked out the principles
which have made possible the introduction of the products of Western
literature, though certainly still on the basis of a proper selection.
In the arguments concerning the necessity of the publication of
non-socialist and non-Marxist-Leninist works, perhaps the most
interesting one is the theory of "phantomization," which was often mentioned
in 1966. The Western writers and poets who are not being
introduced are fetishized and phantomized in Hungary. Legends are told
about them, which creates tension between the cultural policy of the
Party and the standpoint and demands of the public. It is quite
obvious that, during the past few years, the importance and role of
the public have increased.

--------------------

(24) Magyar Muhely, 15 April 1965, page 10.

(25) Laszlo Kardos: "Kozel es Tavol" (Near and far away), Magveto,
Budapest 1966 (371-4040).

[page 11]

But, let us see now what the Hungarian readers were able
to read of Western literature in Nagyvilag, during 1966:

Excerpts from the novel: La Conscienza di Zeno by Italo
Svevo, the pioneer of the modern Italian novel: the short story
"Miriam" by the American writer Truman Capote; scenes from the
drama Die Ermittlung (The Inquiry) by the German writer Peter Weiss;
the play La Grotte by the French playwright Jean Anouilh; one of
the novels by the West German novelist Guenter Herburger from the
volume, Eine Gleichmässige Landschaft (An Even Landscape); a few
poems by the American poet Karl Shapiro; the short story "El
Guardagujas" by the Mexican writer Juan Jose Arreola; the short
story: "Un' Infanzia" by the Italian writer Alberto Bevilaqua; a
few poems by the French poet Yves Bonnefoy; the radio play Die
Andere und Ich (The Other and I) by the West German poet and novelist
Guenter Eich; the drama Caligula by the French Nobel Prize winner
and existentialist writer Albart Camus; the novel: A Home for the
Hlighland Cattle by the British author Doris Lessing; French writer
André Maurois' La Mise en Mort; the poems of the Basel poets
Rainer Brambach and Hans Werthmuller; the novel: The Vertical
Ladder by the British writer William Sansom; the one-act play: The
Typist and the Tiger by the American playwright Murray Schisgal;
a short story by the Dutch writer Theun de Vries; the drama: The
Meteor by the Swiss playwright and novelist Friedrich Durrenmatt;
the short stories: "The Blessing" and "The Invisible Japanese
Gentleman" by the British writer Graham Green.

The publication of books is a worthy addition to this
list. The translations, listed in the annual publication of the
UNESCO Index Translationum, proves how the intellectual products of
foreign countries are reaching Hungary through the "windows open in
all directions."

But this trend can be observed from the opposite viewpoint
as well. The boss of Hungarian culture, the Office for Legal
Protection of Copyrights (Artisjus) deals with 1,000 foreign publishers
and agencies. The works of Hungarian writers are published in
increasing numbers in foreign countries. One of the measures of this
success is the international book fair in Frankfurt. At the 1965
Frankfurt book fair, the number of Hungarian books published abroad
and the contracts signed at the fair indicated the increasing
interest of the West in Hungarian literature.

The policy of the "windows open in all directions" has
also made it possible for Hungarian writers to have a chance to
travel to the West. Many of the writers have made use of this
opportunity. The recently published Hungarian history of literature

[page 12]

has remarked that "travel to the West has become the characteristic
experience of writers."[26] These trips to the West, whether they
are official -- participation in congresses, representation of the
Writers' Association, study tours, invitations -- or private tours,
have an effect not only on the writers but, through them, also on
literary life and even on literary policy.

Theater -- The Surprises of the Season -- Undercurrents -- The
"Sensitive Group" of Dramatic Literature

Repertory planning is compulsory for the theaters. This
is an essential part of the Communist program policy. In the last
season, there were 162 premieres in 34 theaters of the country.
There were 42 premieres- in Budapest and 120 in the provincial
theaters. Ten per cent of the plays were the works of modern Western
authors.[27] The ratio of the Soviet drama and people's democratic
dramas dropped considerably and there were very few Hungarian first
nighters. High-level and artistically excellent performances were
quite rare. This, in brief, was the last theater season.

A pleasant surprise of the season was the first
performance of the anti-drama Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. The
drama had been previously publicized by the world literary
periodical Nagyvilag. The drama was put on stage at the insistence of the
public at the studio theater -- with a few dozen seats -- of the
Thalia Theater. Because the performance of the drama was widely
discussed in advance, the stage manager of the Thalia Theater, Karoly
Kazimir, made an introductory speech before the curtain call. In
his introductory remarks, he tried to answer the question: Why is
the drama Waiting for Godot being performed on the stage of a
theater "propagating socialist idealism?" The essence of the
introductory remarks was that, in these days, isolation is impossible. We
should know the original works and we should not try to explain and
criticize what we do not know.[28] In the course of the debate
published in Nagyvilag on the drama, Waiting for Godot, the
representatives of the most extreme views had a chance to voice their
opinion. The result of the debate was the acknowledgment that
Waiting for Godot is a significant work in itself and cannot be
ignored.

-----------------------

(26) The History of Hungarian Literature, Vol.6, Academic Publishers
Budapest 1966 (page 1058).

(27) Magyar Nemzet, 28 June 1966.

(28) Elet es Irodalom, 6 November 1965.

[page 13]

The other interesting event of the season was the
performance of Sartre's drama The Flies. The Pecs National Theater took
on the difficult task of presenting the Hungarian premiere of the
play. The question arose, was it right to stage the first play of
the existentialist Sartre? Using the play as a pretext, some
people "mourn" for the unrealizable freedom of the individual in
society and others welcome the play as the modern development of
Marxism.[29] The premiere was a success and the critics' reaction
positive.

Another outstanding event of the season was the premiere
of Peter Weiss' drama Marat at the Budapest National Theater.[30]
The Hungarian audience was already familiar with the first version
of Weiss' drama from the volume Modern German Dramas. The staging
took place on the basis of the revised text for the Rostock theater.
The performance -- in a production worthy of the great past and
tradition of the theater -- was an outstanding event of the theater
season.

Hochhuth's The Deputy had its premiere on 11 February 1966
in the Thalia Theater. This was the first performance of the work
on a socialist stage. The condition for the Hungarian premiere of
The Deputy was the publication of the correspondence between Hochhuth
and the Slovak writer Ladislav Mnacko. After this had taken place,
the drama was staged in the capital where -- because of the 1938
Eucharistic World Congress -- memories are still relatively fresh
of the then Papal legate Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII.
It is quite unnecessary to deal with the critics' questioning the
artistic value of the drama. But the registration of the emotional
reactions, which were published in the press, is more interesting.
One of these emotional outbursts took place in a dentist's office.
One of the patients stated that "the whole thing is a bluff because
the American chief rabbi has expressed his gratitude for the attitude
of the Vatican during the height of fascism and, even more, West
German officials have refuted all statements by Hochhuth on the
basis of authentic documents." [31] The press repeatedly published
articles in defense of Hochhuth to disarm such manifestations.
Incidently, Hochhuth's drama was not only published in excerpts at

-----------------------

(29) Jelenkor, August 1966.

(30) The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat As
Performed By the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the
Direction of the Marquis de Sade.

(31) Szinhaz Film Muzsika, 15 July 1966.

[page 14]

first, but also in full in a new paperback series as well.

We should also mention the Euripides-Sartre The Women of
Troy, Heiner Kipphardt's The Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer,
Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Physicists, Jean Anouilh's Beeket and the
Dove, Jean-Paul Sartre's The Devil and God, Jean Giraudoux's The
Mad Woman of Chaillot. The works of Arthur Miller and Eugene
O'Neill have been in the repertory of the Budapest and provincial
theaters for years. As a representative of light theater, My Fair
Lady was staged in Budapest as well as in the provinces. By the
way, the three pillars of the Budapest theatrical repertory are:
Shakespeare, Shaw and Brecht. But the favorite of the Budapest
audience is not Brecht, but Tennessee Williams. Brecht was a
failure in the provincial theaters. Ionescu is not performed on
the Hungarian stage. Some of the provincial theaters have tried to
stage Ionescu, but they have been warned off. On the other hand,
Ionescu was the subject of one of the TV quiz programs.[32]

A perceptible undercurrent can be sensed in Hungarian
theatrical art. This is partly the result of the foreign theatrical
companies visiting Hungary. Hungary has been visited by the
Shakespeare Memorial Theater, the Comedie Francaise, the Berlin
Brecht Ensemble, the Teatro Giacosa of Genoa, the Opera Ensemble of
Parma, the Teatro Stabile of Turin, the Warsaw Teatr Ateneum. The
style and methods of the theatrical companies have a productive
influence on the domestic companies. The foreign travels of the
theatrical experts are very productive as well. The free atmosphere
and the increased chances of orientation of the past few years have
made possible the staging of free and public debates and the shift
from the naturalistic realistic method to more abstract approaches.
The Hungarian audience and the theatrical experts are well informed
about everything in the theatrical world, not only in Warsaw, Prague
or Belgrade, but also in Paris and London. This is proved by the
debates on the necessity of studio theaters (test theaters,
theatrical laboratories, workshops). A participant in the debate has
declared: "We want a theater which will prompt us to do independent
thinking. We want a theater which will induce us to a critical
reckoning and to face courageously the false myths of the past."[33]
In the course of the debate, letters, in increasing numbers, have
arrived at the Elet es Irodalom editorial office. The Communist
Youth Association and the Dramatic Department of the Association of
Hungarian Writers have proposed that the debate should be developed

--------------------

(32) Tarsadalmi Szemle, April 1966, page 63.

(33) Elet es Irodalom, 9 April 1966.

[page 15]

into a work conference. For the time being, the debate has been
closed by the address of the leader of the Theatrical Department of
the Ministry of Culture and Education. [34] But the question is
still on the agenda.

One of the interesting features of the present Communist
theater policy is that more administrative obstacles are put in the
way of the first performance of some of the Hungarian plays than of
foreign plays. The very same ideological standpoint or problem
which does not offend anybody when in the work of a foreign author
could be an obstacle in the work of a Hungarian author. Thus, for
example, such works as Gyula Illyes' The Favorite, The Mill on the
Sed, Gyula Hay's dramas The Nights of Attila and Mohacs, as well as
Laszlo Nemeth's Traitor, have not yet been staged, in spite of the
fact that these works have already been published. At the same
time, the first performance of the first absurd drama in Hungary,
The Stalwart Simeon by Imre Sarkadi, who died under tragic
circumstances, has taken place. Such works represent the so-called
"sensitive group" of Hungarian dramatic literature. They belong to
the trend which the Polish literary historian Eugeniusz Sawrymowicz
called "the literature of despair." Power spoils the morals of
those who fight for power. The political sphere is an amoral sphere.
There is no cause for which it is worth sacrificing the autonomy of
the personality of the human being.

If not on the Hungarian stage, these works are being
performed on foreign stages. This is proved by the fact that Gyula
Hay's dramas have had great success in Austria, Germany,
Switzerland and in Britain. The world premiere of his drama, The Nights
of Attila, took place at the Bregenz Festival. The Hungarian press
cautiously conceals these foreign successes of the Hungarian
playwrights.

Up to now, the Communist cultural policy has urged in vain
the writing of Hungarian dramas of "new socialist idealism." There
are no outstanding works of this "genre." It is quite doubtful
that the more than quarter of a million forint dramatic competition
of the Association of the Hungarian Writers will be a success.[35]

In closing, we would like to quote the confession of the
recently deceased Hungarian writer, Aron Tamasi, on the responsibility

--------------------------

(34) Elet es Irodalom, 30 April 1966.

(35) Kortars, February 1966.

[page 16]

of the writer: "Not only the politician "bears the responsibility
in his leading position but the writer, too, at his intellectual
post. The politician bears responsibility to the people and the
writer to the nation."[36] The literary life of the first half of
1966 shows that many of the writers feel this responsibility.
Because of this, the comparison with "the fly which settled on a
neap" is nothing more than a relic of a discredited orthodox
Communist cultural policy.

AB
(Hungarian Unit)

----------------------

(36) Elet es Irodalom, 26 May 1962.

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