The Absurdity and Irrationality of War in the Everyday Life of the Hinterland

On István Örkény’s Novella and Drama Tóték and Zoltán Fábri’s Film Adaptation

Authors

  • Miklós Sághy University of Szeged

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ahea.2023.514

Keywords:

Hungarian literature, Hungarian cinema, István Örkény, Zoltán Fábri, twentieth-century Hungarian drama, twentieth-century Hungarian film history, film adaptation, World War II, communist Hungary

Abstract

The present study examines three versions of Tóték (commonly translated as The Toth Family; literally The Tóts), the first two by István Örkény, one of Hungary’s leading twentieth-century writers: a highly successful drama from 1967, instrumental in reforming stage language in Hungary; and the 1966 novella of the same title. The third is their 1969 film adaptation, Isten hozta, őrnagy úr! (Welcome, Major), by Zoltán Fábri. The analysis of the drama and the novel focuses primarily on how a major arriving from the front during World War II brings the madness and irrationality of the war into the life of the Toth family when he stays with them for two weeks. The paper’s second part examines the film adaption, asking in particular how the film represents madness and absurdity, given their key role in the original literary sources. The situation and the fate of the Toth family can be interpreted in all three works in more general terms as well, as a model for the working mechanisms and absurdity of dictatorships anywhere, hence, even if only indirectly, of 1960s Hungary. Saghy.Miklos@hung.u-szeged.hu

Author Biography

Miklós Sághy, University of Szeged

Miklós Sághy is an Associate Professor at the Department of Visual Culture and Literary Theory, University of Szeged, Hungary. His research interests are interrelations between film and literature, contemporary Hungarian literature, film and media theories. His books are: The New Hungarian Lyrics. Critiques of Contemporary Poetry. (In Hungarian with Ákos Tóth), 2004; The Rhetoric of Light. The Role of Technical Images in the Works of Iván Mándy and Miklós Mészöly (In Hungarian), 2009; The Future of the Cinema in the Digital Age. Database or narrative? (E-book in Hungarian with Zoltán Dragon), 2012; Camera Zooming on Literature (Film Adaptations of Hungarian Literary Works from 20th Century), 2019.  

References

Bécsy, Tamás. 1984. „E kor nekünk szülőnk és megölőnk” (Az önismeret kérdései Örkény István drámáiban) [‘“This Age is Our Parent and Killer.” Question of Self-knowledge in István Örkény’s Plays’]. Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó.

Földes, Anna. 1985. Örkény-színház [‘The Theater of Örkény’]. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó.

Gelencsér, Gábor. 2015. Forgatott könyvek (A magyar film és irodalom kapcsolata 1945 és 1995 között) [‘Books Shot on Film. The Relationship of Hungarian Film and Literature Between 1945-1995’]. Budapest: Kijárat Kiadó – Kosztolányi Dezső Kávéház Kulturális Alapítvány.

Lázár, István. 1979. Örkény István [‘István Örkény’]. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó.

Molnár Gál, Péter. 1995. “Örkény, a drámaíró” [‘Örkény, the Playwright’]. Örkény István emlékkönyv [‘In Memory of István Örkény’]. Eds. Fráter, Zoltán and Radnóti, Zsuzsa. Budapest: Pesti Szalon Könyvkiadó. 129–143.

Örkény, István. 1981 [1966]. Tóték [‘The Tóts’]. Kisregények [‘Short Novels’]. Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó. 205–297.

---------. 2009a [According to the official István Örkény homepage: http://orkenyistvan.hu/english; original version in Hungarian: 1967]. “To the audience” [‘Levél a nézőhöz’]. http://orkenyistvan.hu/sites/orkenyistvan.hu/files/welcoming_the_major_full.pdf 1–2. (Accessed: December 27, 2022.)

---------. 2009b [According to the official István Örkény homepage: http://orkenyistvan.hu/english]. Welcoming the Major (The Tot Family). Trans. Adams, Bernard. http://orkenyistvan.hu/sites/orkenyistvan.hu/files/welcoming_the_major_full.pdf (Accessed: December 27, 2022.)

---------. 2001. The Toth Family. Trans. Gyorgyey, Clara. Budapest: Corvina.

Szirák, Péter. 2008. Örkény István [‘István Örkény’]. Budapest: Palatinus.

---------. 2009. “A Grotesque Allegory of Human Dignity. István Örkény: Welcoming the Major.” http://orkenyistvan.hu/sites/orkenyistvan.hu/files/welcoming_the_major_full.pdf 1–15. (Accessed: December 27, 2022.)

Tarján, Tamás. 1998. Örkény István Tóték [‘István Örkény: The Tóts’]. Budapest: Akkord Kiadó.

Vajdovich, Györgyi. 2008. “Az örkényi groteszk filmen. Fábri Zoltán Isten hozta, őrnagy úr! című adaptációja” [‘Grotesque by Örkény on Film. The Adaption, Welcome, Major by Zoltán Fábri’]. Apertura 2008/3. https://www.apertura.hu/2008/tavasz/vajdovich-az-orkenyi-groteszk-filmen-fabri-zoltan-isten-hozta-ornagy-ur-cimu-adaptacioja/ (Accessed: December 27, 2022.)

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Published

2023-09-06

Issue

Vol. 16 (2023)

Section

General Articles

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Copyright (c) 2023 Miklós - Sághy

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