Joyce’s Ulysses in Hungarian

by Giorgia Winter

Joyce’s Ulysses was wholly published in Paris in 1922 but earlier it could be read in an American journal, The Little Review, which serialized it in parts from March 1918 to December 1920. The novel divided readers and critics. In Eastern Europe on the basis of ideological reasons Joyce’s novel was alleged to be extremely extravagant, moreover, it was accused of blasphemy and pornography in both Eastern and Western Europe. Before its first Hungarian translation was published, the critique had judged the novel remarkable. But in Hungary from 1930s to 1980s due to the Marxist critique the reaction to Ulysses became negative. Interestingly, a positive, independent critique began to evolve from 1960s. Judgement of Irish culture in Europe and the United States, the international situation of Hungary and the English knowledge of critics and translators were included in the issues of reception. This essay tells the history of the Hungarian translation of Joyce’s Ulysses and examines the quality of two different translations.

The history of the Hungarian translation of Joyce’s Ulysses has some milestones. Mihály Babits wanted to organize a group to translate Ulysses but in issue 16 of Nyugat in 1936 he says that Miklós Szentkuthy is the Hungarian Joyce and he could translate Ulysses. However, Endre Gáspár had translated Joyce’s novel from English into Hungarian in 1947, Miklós Szentkuthy translated it again in 1974, but according to some critics, he rewrote Ulysses. Between releasing the two translations significant studies were published connected to Joyce’s Ulysses in Hungary, namely, in 1959 Tibor Lutter’s monography and in 1967 Péter Egri’s study, James Joyce and Thomas Mann: Decadency and Modernity. In 1986 Szentkuthy’s translation was published again edited by Tibor Bartos. By the time the newest translation was released in 2012, studies about Joyce’s works had been available to the public since 1990s, among them Ákos Farkas’s Will’s Son and Jake’s Peer:Anthony Burgess and Joyce’s relationship, was introduced in 2002. As a significant stage in the translation of Ulysses the Hungarian James Joyce Society has been working since 2002, and its yearly conference is held in Szombathely where Bloom, one of the protagonists of the novel, originated from.

By using the idea of Mihály Babits, as the members of Magyar James Joyce Műhely (MJJM), András Kappanyos, Gábor Zoltán Kiss, Marianna Gula and Dávid Szolláth translated Joyce’s Ulysses from English into Hungarian on the basis of Gabler’s edition[1] and Szentkuthy’s translation. As the essential target, MJJM decided to create a new, clearer interpretation of Joyce’s novel using Szentkuthy’s version to make the new form different to the former ones philologically and structurally. The supplementary materials[2] that are used to new interpretation are Ulysses Annotated[3], New Bloomsday Book[4], Allusions in Ulysses[5], Ulysses: A Reference Guide[6], the advertisements of Titbits[7], the photos of Joyce Images[8] and the Ulysses Concordance site[9]. The verses of the Bible were quoted on the basis of by Károly’s translation version, and the other poems and quotations were translated keeping their original translators’ texts. Consequently, Shakespeare’s works were quoted following János Arany’s work. Utilizing the knowledge about Joyce and his work that had been accumulated since 1974, the methods of this translation differentiated MJJM’s work from Szentkuthy’s.  In accordance with András Kappanyos’s group, Szentkuthy’s version contains a lot of inaccuracies that damage the system of the novel. These inaccuracies were written as the consequence of referential errors, due to cultural misunderstanding, and the consequence of structural inaccuracies, which are lost motifs and parts of narrative. Szentkuthy became accused of exaggeration of translation, and as a result, his virtuosity in writing influences understanding. In excuse of the former Hungarian versions of Ulysses their translators did not have enough information and they could not use equipment of mass communication, which made the translation much easier in the twenty-first century. Therefore they could not keep the inner system of the novel’s references; however, Szentkuthy and Bartos could have used the Gabler’s edition of Ulysses and Gifford’s annotationa in the revised version of Szentkuthy’s first translation. To remove the earlier mentioned mistakes MJJM wanted to integrate Joyce’s life-work into Hungarian culture to provide opportunity to readers to experience the reading of Joyce’s works including Ulysses. Although none of the translations of Ulysses are perfect, to translate “Oxen of the Sun” episode, which is the most studied episodes, is practically impossible. As a result, this episode contains the most conspicious mistakes and slips in Szentkuthy’s version.  

Nevertheless, Kappanyos’s group tried to eliminate the mistakes that Szentkuthy had made. By illustrating the elimination of these mistakes with examples, Szentkuthy’s and MJJM’s translation are compared on the basis of the themes of “passion” and “religion.” In “Oxen of the Sun” episode Joyce uses chronological order of imitations of English prose style to the narrative of this chapter from Latin prose to contemporary slang. The style of Horace Walpole’s and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu are also parodied (U 14.1010-37). Within this paragraph, in which two representatives of Gothic are recalled, there is only one useful information with exaggerating the importance of circumstances. As for this information, Mulligan says that he will meet Haines at Westland Row railway station at ten past eleven and the readers of Ulysses know that the two men have parted from each other at Moore’s. This short message is wrapped up in imitation of Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and Le Fanu’s The House by the Churchyard. When Francisco says to Bernardo, who arrives to relieve him at guarding: “[f]or this relief much thanks” (U 14.1034). This quotation of Hamlet is put to two different contexts in Ulysses. In “Nausicaa” episode Bloom is thinking as a voyeur after a sexual adventure. “Did me good all the same. Off colour after Kiernan’s, Dignam’s. For this relief much thanks. In Hamlet, that is. Lord! It was all things combined. Excitement” (U 13.939). But in “Oxen of the Sun” episode this sentence is the part of the narrative text, in which Mulligan reveals that Haines is guilty. János Arany had translated: “Köszönöm, hogy felváltasz,” which was used by Szentkuthy in the second case when the sentence is occurred again, but he translated “Köszönöm a megkönnyebbülést” (Szentkuthy 476) as Bloom’s sigh after an erotic experience due to Gerty McDowell. The newest and different version is “Köszönöm, rámfért” (MJJM 357, 393), which is understandable in both situations. Szentkuthy’s translations disturb to recognize the quotation of Hamlet, and their styles are not adequate but MJJM’s translation is clear in terms of both sections.

Also, Laurence Sterne’s style, and his work, A Sentimental Journey, were parodied involving allusions to sexual life, similarly in the former quotation. This paragraph of “Oxen of the Sun” episode mentions dividing the adequate contraceptive device that was banned in Ireland at the turning of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. “Capote” means condom and “umbrella” is slang for a diaphragm, “Le Fécondatour” means “the impregnator” in this episode. Both of them are prepared for the peak of a sexual act. “Tut, tut! cries Le Fécondateur, tripping in, my friend Monsieur Moore, that most accomplished traveler [. . .] is my authority that in Cape Horn, ventre biche, they have a rain that will wet through any, even the stoutest cloak” (U 14.778-82). The metaphor of a sexual act is signalled directly in Szentkuthy’s translation, in which “Phalladia” means “Cape Horn” (Szentkuthy 519). In the new translation “Cape Horn” appears as “Jóreménység foka” (MJJM 387) without any exaggeration. The word of “Phalladia” is not translated but created and “Jóreménység foka” can demonstrate what the base of the metaphor is and it does not destroy Joyce’s original metaphor.

Beside imitation of Gothic style, as a passion, taking drugs is mentioned: “Dope is my only hope” (U 14.1024). Szentkuthy translated it as “[t]ápszerem a kábszer” (528), and the new translation is “[e]gyetlen remény e hűs edény” (MJJM 393). As “dope” can mean a drug taken illegally for recreational purposes, or a drug given to a racehorse or greyhound to inhibit or enhance the performance of animals and a drug taken by athletes to improve their performance. Neither of the translations expresses the original  meaning precisely. “Egyetlen reményem a drogos edényem”, “A mámor ápol”, “Bizakodom az italomon” (my translation) could be more exact interpretations. “A mámor ápol” is the most concise but does not express that this is the only hope. “Bizakodom az italomon” refers rather to drinking alcohol than dope, and “Egyetlen reményem a drogos edényem” is similar to MJJM’s  translation but expresses using drugs more directly.

The concept of passion in religious context recalls the Passion of Jesus Christ, in “Lestrygonians” episode. “Paying game. Torry and Alexander last year. Poligamy. His wife will put the stopper on that.Where was that ad some Birmingham firm the luminous crucifix. Our Saviour. Wake up in the dead of night and see him on the wall, hanging. Pepper’s ghost idea. Iron Nails Ran In” (U 8.17-20). At the beginning of this episode Bloom looks at a sweet-shop then a young Y.M.C.A. man gives him a throughaway that announces “Elijah is coming” and the “Blood of the Lamb.” Looking at the throughaway, Bloom starts to associate, and thinks of Jesus. Szentkuthy had translated: “Gyűjtési cirkusz. Tavaly Torry és Alexander. Poligámia. Majd a felesége rendet csinál. Hol van az a hirdetés, valami birminghami cég a világító feszülettel? Megváltónk. Éjfélt üt az óra felriadsz és látod ott lógni a falon. Grandguignol. Vasszögekkel szögelteték” (187). But MJJM’s interpretation is different: “A pénzre mennek. Tavaly Torry és Alexander. Poligámia. Ehhez majd még a feleségének is lesz egy-két szava. Hol volt az a hirdetés, valami birminghami cég a világító feszülettel? Megváltónk. Éjfélt üt az óra, felriadsz és látod ott lógni a falon. A Pepper-féle szellem ötlete. Irgalom Nélkül Rángattak Ide” (149). From Szentkuthy’s translation “Pepper’s ghost idea”is lacking. Gifford explaines:  “Padraic Colum in an interview in 1968 recalled this as a circus or stage trick developed by an Englishman named John Pepper in the 1870s. It involved the manipulation of phosphorescent costumes, lighting, and dark curtains to produce the dramatic illusion of ghostly presences on stage” (Gifford 157). “Grandguignol” means dramatic entertainment featuring the gruesome or horrible originated from Le Grand Guignol, small theater in Montmartre, Paris, which specialized in such performances. The expression that Szentkuthy uses does not signal the original thought and it is too abstract. MJJM translated this sentence word for word. In this passage the other difference between the two translations is the last sentence of the paragraph. “Iron Nails Ran In” recalls the acronym of INRI, the abbreviation of Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum represents the Latin inscription which in English reads as “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.” The inscription has been written on the crucifix hanging on the wall, in Bloom’s room. Looking at the crucifix Bloom’s thought becomes frivolous mixing his mystical and religious ideas. “Bloom’s stream of consciousness is metonimical and reminds its readers of epic poetry and realism. [. . .] We always know what Bloom is doing and where he is staying, consequently the connection between what he thinks and does is direct” (Goldmann 127, my translation). Márta Goldmann quotes David Lodge’s statement about metaphorical and metonymical poles after Roman Jakobson’s theory. Szentkuthy’s interpretation, “Vasszögekkel szögelteték” renders the original content and MJJM’S translation, “Irgalom Nélkül Rángattak Ide” expresses the form but neither of them have unity between content and form. “Igazhitűt Nem Raknak Ide”, “Indokolatlanul Nem Raknak Ide”, “Istenhívő Nem Rakatna Ide” or “Isten Nem Rakatna Ide”(my translation) could be the other solutions.

In Bloom’s stream of consciousness, Easter appears with the problem of lent and as a reaction Bloom’s first impression is eating and dying of hunger. “Increase and multiply. Did you ever hear such an idea? Eat you out of house and home. No families themselves to feed. Living on the fat of the land. Their butteries and larders. I’d like to see them do the black fast Yom Kippur. Crossbuns. One meal and a collation for fear he’d collapse on the altar” (U 8.33-7). “Increase and multiply” is quoted from Genesis 1:28 and it is the key of Roman Catholic condemnation of birth control. “No families themselves to feed” refers to Roman Catholic priests who are not allowed to have children. “Living on the fat of the land” recalls Genesis 45:18 where the generous pharaoh gives the crops of his land to Joseph and his nation. Yom Kippur, which is the key word of the next sentence, is the Day of Atonement for the Jewish people who celebrate this day with fasting and praying. The similar black fast in the Christian tradition means that on the fifth Sunday of the Lent before Easter nothing can be eaten except for water, and the altar in the church is covered with a black veil. By mentioning the name of small cakes, “Crossbuns” Bloom associates the fast of Good Friday and Yom Kippur then the traditional Easter cake as a gift after surviving the Lent. Szentkuthy had translated “crossbuns” as “császárzsemle”, which is a different type of cake, namely Kaiser roll, and it does not remind readers of Easter but the Habsburg Monarchy. This Hungarian expression is the odd one out of the text. “Gyarapodjatok és sokasodjatok. Hallottak már ilyet? Zabáljátok föl mindeneteket. Ilyenek nem tudnak gondoskodni magukról. Csak élnek bele a világba. Elvégre kamrájuk. Szeretném látni, hogy koplalják ezek végig Jom Kippur bűnbánati böjtjét. Császárzsemlén. Egyszeri étkezés és egy kis böjti étel, nehogy az ember ott essen össze az oltárnál” (Szentkuthy 187-88). As the original version “Crossbuns” connects everyday life with religion on the basis of the association of hunger but Szentkuthy’s choice, „császárzsemlén” does not allude to religion but “Húsvéti kalács” as MJJM’s version fits in the text precisely. “Gyarapodjatok és sokasodjatok. Hallottak már ilyet? Zabáljátok föl mindeneteket. Nekik persze nincs családjuk, amit etetniük kellene. Övék a földnek legjava. Tele a pince meg a padlás. Szeretném látni, hogy csinálnák végig Jom Kippúr fekete böjtjét. Húsvéti kalács. Egyszeri étkezés és egy kis böjti étel, épp csak hogy össze ne essen az oltárnál” (MJJM 150). From the fourth sentence of this section the two translation differentiate. As mentioned earlier, “Living on the fat of the land” refers to the generous pharaoh, who gives the crops of his land to Joseph and his nation. “Csak élnek bele a világba” does not allude to the Biblical context but “Övék a földnek legjava” does. “Their butteries and larders” is translated as “Elvégre kamrájuk” by Szentkuthy, which surpasses the newest version “Tele a pince meg a padlás”, which is more adequate form in Hungarian. MJJM’s version kept the context of the Bible but Szentkuthy associated more generally.

In “Telemachus” episode a theological interpretation of Hamlet is mentioned in terms of the Father-Son relationship then Mulligan chants his blasphemous comic ballad of Joking Jesus, which also explores the subject of fraternity and divinity in the form of parody. “I'm the queerest young fellow that ever you heard. / My mother's a jew, my father's a bird. / With Joseph the joiner I cannot agree. / So here's to disciples and Calvary. // If anyone thinks that I amn't divine / He'll get no free drinks when I'm making the wine / But have to drink water and wish it were plain / That I make when the wine becomes water again. // Goodbye, now, goodbye! Write down all I said / And tell Tom, Dick and Harry I rose from the dead. / What's bred in the bone cannot fail me to fly / And Olivet's breezy. . . Goodbye, now, goodbye!” (U 1.584-99).  The model of Buck Mulligan, who chants this song, is Joyce’s friend, Oliver St. John Gogarty, physician, writer, poet and the celebrity of his age. Some lines of his work, The Song of the Cheerful (but Slightly Sarcastic) Jesus are quoted as The Ballad of Joking Jesus by Joyce in Ulysses. Gogarty’s poem was circulated in manuscript in Dublin at the beginning of the twentieth century. Originally, Gogarty sent the ballad to Joyce as a gift for Christmas to conclude a peace after their quarrels in 1904. Other personal details of Buck Mulligan, namely his Hellenism, status as a medical student, friendship with George Moore, who became deeply involved in the Irish Literary Revival movement, his full name in the novel, Malachi Roland St. John Mulligan, are parallel to Gogarty's biography.  Later Joyce  abridged and modified The Ballad of Joking Jesus for inclusion in the opening chapter. Szentkuthy rewrote the ballad entirely: “Az anyám zsidó, az apám rigó, / Elsők közt én a felkent strigó. / Szent Jóskát a léccel nem értem én, / Tanítványok pere Krisztus tetemén. // Ki nem hiszi, hogy volnék Jehova, / Potya borra nem jöhet sehova, / Kánai mennyegzőn vedelhet vizet, / Az első csodára Aquinó ráfizet. // No most agyő, agyő, finál! / Uratok feltámadt és a mennybe száll! / Márk, Máté, Lukács és János írjatok, Ki testet adtam Magamnak, a Szentlélek vagyok” (Szentkuthy 25). The atmosphere of the ballad in the Hungarian version is similar to the English one but there are some lines which are controversial. “[M]y father's a bird” alludes to the dove of the Holy Spirit, thus “rigó” cannot inspire readers to think of the Biblical story about Jesus’s origin. “And tell Tom, Dick and Harry I rose from the dead” signals average people who need to know about his death and resurrection. “Márk, Máté, Lukács és János írjatok” does not refer to average people but the four Evangelists. MJJM’s translation is more direct than Szentkuthy’s but in less congruous style. “Csodásabb figurát láttál-e már / Az anyám zsidó, az apám madár. / József s az ácsszakma nem vonzott soha, Igyunk hát hívek, s Kálvária. // Aki nem hiszi el isteni lényegem, / Vízből lett potyabort nem ihat sohasem, / Érje be azzal, mit akkor teszek, / Ha borból csinálok újra vizet. // No én most elszállok, ti meg csak írjatok / Jancsi, Pista tudja meg, hogy feltámadok! / Az Olajfák hegyén jó most a szél / Tudásom öröklött, légi baj nem ér” (MJJM 24). The earlier debated lines of this satirical song appear word for word in the new translation, which sounds simple keeping the ballad humorous. Szentkuthy’s translation of The Ballad of Joking Jesus is not as fluent and clear as MJJM’s.

Mihály Szegedy-Maszák considers that in Szentkuthy’s translation the Hungarian readers of Ulysses could not understand one part of “Scylla and Charybdis” episode (47), in which William Q. Judge is mentioned, who assisted Madame Blavatsky in founding the Theosophical Society in 1875. He was the head of the Aryan Theosophical Society in New York City as well.

Dunlop, Judge, the noblest Roman of them all, A. E., Arval, the Name Ineffable, in heaven hight: K. H., their master, whose identity is no secret to adepts. Brothers of the great white lodge always watching to see if they can help. The Christ with the bridesister, moisture of light, born of an ensouled virgin, repentant Sophia, departed to the plane of buddhi. The life esoteric is not for ordinary person. O. P. must work off bad karma first. Mrs Cooper Oakley once glimpsed our very illustrious sister H. P. B.’s elemental. (U 9.65-71)

In Szentkuthy’s translation Judge is translated as “a Bíró”, which is a mysterious character  of the Society or an allusion to a Biblical verse quoted from James 5:9, “Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” This translation is deceptive but the paragraph depicts the Theosophist Society’s disciplines, which are not connected to only Christian disciplines. Daniel Nicol Dunlop edited The Irish Theosophist and The Path[10]. Arval is “[t]he central ruling body of the Theosophical movement was composed of twelve  members and was called the Esoteric Section or mystically Arval, after a Roman priesthood of twelve members who performed the fertility rites of a somewhat mysterious mother-goddess. Theosophical lore associated this twelve with the twelve disciples (both groups governed by a "master" whose identity was shrouded in mystery)” (Gifford 197). K. H. is Khoot Hoomi, one of Blavatsky’s two masters. “In Ireland Theosophy connected closely to the endeavour of independence and literature, Blavatsky’s disciplines affected Yeats’s poetry” (Szegedy-Maszák 48, my translation). There are only a few differences between Szentkuthy’s and the new translation; however, they are annoying.

Dunlop, a Bíró, mindnyájunk között a legnemesebb római, A. E., Arval, a Kifejezhetetlen Név, egek magasságaiban, K. H., a mesterük, kinek kiléte nem titok a beavatottak előtt. A nagy fehér páholy testvérei mindig tettre készen várják, vajon nem kell-e valakin segíteni. A Krisztus a menyasszonynővérrel, világosság nedvessége, lélekben fogant szűztől nyűlve, bűnbánó Sophia, felemeltetve a buddhák mezejére. Az ezoterikus élet nem közönséges emberek számára való. O. P.-nek előbb expiálnia kell a rossz karmát. Mrs. Cooper Oakley fél szemmel egyszer látta a mi igen kitűnő növérünket. H. P. B.-nek orgánumát. (Szentkuthy 233)

In the next paragraph he exaggerated the translation of the repeated word, “elemental,” as “orgazmusát.” Related to the theme of “religion”, MJJM’s translation is funny, first they translated “elementálját,” then “elejetáját.” The concept of elemental character or nature means instinctive character, consequently “elejetája” is the most proper and may point to Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s skill, such as levitation. The new translation is more exact. “Dunlop, Judge, a legnemesbik római mindnyája közt, A. E., Arval, a Megnevezhetetlen Név, egek magasságában. [. . .] K. E.-nek előbb le kell dolgoznia a rossz karmát. Mrs. Cooper Oakley egyszer megpillantotta a mi igen kitűnő nővérünk, H. P. B. elementálját” (MJJM 183). An elemental is a being from the works of Paracelsus where he named four elemental categories, gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders. “Elemental” can be translated easily because it has a similar form in Hungarian, “elementál”, which recalls the original form that served as a basis for that parody in Ulysses.

Understanding all cultural allusions in this novel, is impossible. There is an example for this phenomenon in “Cyclops” episode, where the original text contains Hungarian words. Both Szentkuthy and MJJM used italic letters to emphasize these words; however, it cannot turn out that these words are in Hungarian in Joyce’s novel. Therefore it is impossible to feel the original atmosphere. Moreover, the readers of Ulysses need to be highly cultured to recognize Greek, Latin and Hebrew phrases. The title of the novel points that here is a crossword lacing in the novel, the word of Ulysses is the Latin translation of Odyssey, who is the hero of a Greek epic poem. Moreover, for understanding the text of Ulysses the Irish context is needed to know.

To sum it up, both Hungarian translations of Ulysses have values and mistakes. Generally, MJJM’s translation is more precise because translators could use more supplementary materials and reference literature than Szentkuthy and they could utilize the opportunities of digital culture. Since 2012 when the new translation of Ulysses was released, it has been less difficult to understand the system of the novel, but its readers’ creative cooperation needs to understand Ulysses perfectly because the new translation is not annotated. Annotation could help readers to understand the system of the novel and research Joyce’s life-work. But the cover of Ulysses made by Gábor Gerhes causes its mistakes to be forgotten and signals that this novel is not ordinary.

Works Cited

Goldmann, Márta. James Joyce kritikai fogadtatása Magyarországon. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2005. Print.

Gula, Marianna. “A rév és a vám: A fordítás során keletkező ’hozzáadott érték’ jelenségéről.” Alföld, 61.9, (2010): 74-84.  Print.

Gifford, Don, and Robert J. Seidman. Ulysses Annotated. Berkeley and Los Angeles,

California: U of California P, 1989. Print.

Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Vintage, 1986. Print.

Joyce, James. Ulysses. Trans. Magyar James Joyce Műhely. Budapest: Európa, 2012. Print.

Joyce, James. Ulysses.  Trans. Miklós Szentkuthy. Budapest: Európa, 1998. Print.

Kappanyos, András. “Joyce mint klasszikus auktor és mint magyar invenció.”

Alföld, 61.9, (2010): 52-59. Print.

Szegedy-Maszák, Mihály. “A fordítás hűsége: kísértés vagy ábránd?” Alföld, 61.9, (2010): 45-51. Print.

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[1]  Hans Walter Gabler’s corrected edition of Joyce’s Ulysses published in 1984

[2] http://magyarszak.uni-miskolc.hu/joyce.pdf

[3] Gifford, Don, and Robert J. Seidman. Ulysses Annotated. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: U of California P, 1989.

[4] Blamires, Harry. The New Bloomsday Book. New York: Routledge, 1996.

[5] Thornton, Weldon. Allusions in Ulysses: An annotated List. The U of North Carolina P, 1961.

[6] McKenna, Bernard. James Joyce’s Ulysses: A Reference Guide. Westport: Greenwood P, 2002.

[7] A British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes in 1881.

[8] joyceimages.com

[9] www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rac101/concord/texts/ulysses/

[10] Theosophical journals published in London

Hungarian Austenism - Jane Austen's Reception in Hungary in the 21st Century

by Adrienn Scheffer

The 21th century brought along a new Austenism in Hungary - Jane Austen, a late 18th, early 19th century English novelist is highly popular today. Her volumes are still sold in high quantity, her biographies and almost all the contemporary novels featuring her characters have been translated from English into Hungarian, two pieces of her have been put on stage in the last few years, and the numerous blogs and forums on Austen's life and work show an enormous amount of Austen fans in Hungary. In other words, it seems that the Hungarian reading public is also present in the "Austen cult", which the new Hungarian retranslations of Austen's novels highlight, published nearly year by year since the early 2000s. Between 2000 and 2003 seven, in 2004 three, in 2005 five, in 2006 seven, in 2007 eight, in 2008 five, in 2009 four, in 2010 thirteen, in 2011 two, and 2013 one new editions of her novels were released in Hungary. Interestingly, different translations of certain pieces from different publishing houses appeared in the market in the same year (e.g.: Pride and Prejudice as Büszkeség és Balítélet translated by Dezső Bánki in 2006 by Kossuth Kiadó[1], and Vera Loósz in 2006 by Ulpius-Ház[2]). At this point, a relevant question occurs: why would the Hungarian reading public need two different editions of the same novel within the same year? Either Austen's popularity is the reason, or the translations are not good enough? Should we seek the answer somewhere else? The aim of this essay is to find the reason of Jane Austen's popularity in Hungary in the early 2000s while giving an overview of her reception.

In the 1960s, one could only find a couple of Austen novels in Hungarian on the bookshelves. Recently, the Hungarian reading public is covered by Austen-books. Generally speaking, Austen is famous for her good insight into the characters of her society, and her social criticism and entertaining parodies in her novels. In general, her popularity may rely on her still entertaining novels. Nevertheless, due to the main themes of her novels, love and marriage, her volumes are pretty much regarded as sentimental girl's novels in the eye of Hungarian readers, and generally it is hard to find a man in Hungary who reads Austen these days. It may be originated to the generalization of Austen's themes. Naturally, it cannot be declared that "Austen is only for women", but if in Hungary in 2015 a man checks the content of an Austen novel before reading it, it is not really likely that reading about young (usually middle-class) ladies seeking for love and the perfect match in 19th century England would intrigue him.

Now, it is acknowledged that Austen's work should not be framed within the sentimental novel, but rather within the naturalist novel, since her novels may be preferably seen as realistic than sentimental, though the characters and twists of the plots often make her stories romantic. Accordingly, Nóra Séllei, a contemporary Hungarian Austen-scholar adds that the criticism of Antal Szerb and Mihály Babits (prominent Hungarian poets and writers) on Austen were relevant in her reception in Hungary: "[f]urthermore, Babits claims that Austen assisted in establishing a genre that women writers seem to have a special talent for: what he calls the 'naturalist novel' [...]" (Séllei 243). The naturalist Austenian novel might be called emblematic because of the realist and social aspects which her pieces reflect, e.g.: the realistic depiction of the social classes' everyday life of her time, gender roles, man-woman relationships, entwining with an often witty and satirical style.

Actually, Jane Austen's reception in Hungary began in the 20th century. Her novels found their place in Hungary relatively late, in the 20th century. As Nóra Séllei is writing in her article, Jane Austen: Our Contemporary in Hungary in "The Reception of Jane Austen in Europe", the first translation of an Austen-novel, Pride  and Prejudice, 1813 (as A Bennet család "The Bennet family") - translated by Sándor Hevesi - was published in Hungary between 1934 and 1936 in serialized publication in a monthly journal, Budapest Szemle, and by 1986 the translations of her novels were accessible in book formats in Hungary (Séllei 240). Sense and Sensibility, 1811, was first translated by Mária Borbás in 1976 (published by Magyar Könyvklub), then by Emőke  Sillár in 2006 (Ulpius-ház), Emőke Hegedűs in 2007 (published by Rebeka és Panni [3]Könyvkiadó), and by Gerda Barcza in 2009 (Lazi[4]). Mansfield Park, 1814, has got only two translations: as A Mansfieldi Kastély, it was published in the translations of Ádám Réz in 1968 (published by Európa[5]) and Ágnes Simonyi in 2008 (Ulpius-ház). Emma,1815, as Emma also has got only two Hungarian translations by Dóra Csanak in 1969 (Európa) and Gábor Tomori in 2008 (Ulpius-ház). Persuasion, 1818, as Tartózkodó Érzelem was translated by Ilona  Róna in 1980 (Európa), and as Meggyőző Érvek by Tomori Gábor  in 2007 (Ulpius-ház). Northanger Abbey, 1818, as A Klastrom Titka was translated by Mária Borbás in 1983 (Európa), Ágnes Latorre in 2007 (Ulpius-ház), and Csilla Béresi in 2010 (published by Lazi).

The first Hungarian book format of an Austen novel was Pride and Prejudice translated by Miklós Szenczi, an Austen-scholar, published in 1958 with the title Büszkeség és Balítélet (pride and misjudgement) (Séllei 246). This was the title under which all the later translations of this novel were published. Although seemingly this Hungarian title does not definitely mirror the meaning of prejudice, the title Büszkeség és Balítélet contains the alliteration just like the original English title, and it has been popular in the eye of the Hungarian audience.

After having conversations about Austen with Hungarian people with non-literary background, I have come to the conclusion that those who do not read Austen-novels but have heard of her, correlates her name with Pride and Prejudice. Hence, currently Pride and Prejudice is the most popular Austen novel in Hungary. Between 2006 and 2013, four translations of Pride and Prejudice were published in Hungary with the title Büszkeség és Balítélet. The translators and publishing houses are the followings: Dezső Bánki (2006, Népszabadság Kv), Vera Loósz (2006, Ulpius-Ház), Emőke Hegedűs (2007, Rebeka és Panni), Böbe Weisz (2013, Alinea Könyvkiadó[6], 200 years jubilee edition). Based on the above mentioned examples, the question of why have so many Austen retranslations been released in the early 2000s is reasonable to ask. This question may have more answers, which correlate to one another.

Firstly, one may assume that the need for Austen's actualization may be the cause of the retranslations. Since she was born in 1775, her language could be modernised from time to time in order to bring her world closer to the readers. Notwithstanding, despite her often lengthy sentences, her language in English is clearly understandable and pretty modern. In case of Austen's Hungarian translations, whether to actualize her is an important question. Furthermore, which register should the translator use? How archaic the text should be? Naturally, it all depends on the assumption what the reading public would enjoy, which always differs country by country. At this point, Eugene A. Nida's notion of dynamic equivalence in Translation Studies may be a crucial theory to understand the translators' challenge of choosing the register for translating Austen into Hungarian. Kinga Klaudy, one of the founders of Translation Studies in Hungary is speaking about this theory of Nida in her 2014 lecture, Az ekvivalencia - Bevezetés a fordítás elméletébe (Equivalence - Introduction to the Theory of Translaion), available on Youtube, that literary translation is itself dynamic equivalence, meaning, that the translated text is the closest equivalence of the original text in every sense: in content, in language and style. In other words, dynamic equivalence is present when the mother-tongue readers do not realize that the translated text is not originally written in the receptor language. Moreover, the main goal of dynamic equivalence is reader response. Hence, during translation, the translator keeps in mind how the reader would react to every single sentence of the text, instead of simply translating words.

Regarding the time of Austen, I argue that a translator should provide the audience the atmosphere of  Austen's time by the proper style. Ostensibly, all the Hungarian translators of the Austen novels succeeded in it to some extent. Amongst the Austen fans in Hungary, Pride and Prejudice appears as the favourite novel, and they often write on forums and blogs that the translation of the first sentence of Pride and Prejudice ("[i]t is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" (Austen 3) is always crucial in the eyes of the devoted Austen fans. In case of the language register, it would be interesting to compare this sentence to Szenczi's translation, the first Hungarian version of Pride and Prejudice in book format, 1958, and the latest one in Böbe Weisz's translation as Büszkeség és Balítélet, 2013. Szenczi's sentence is the following: "[á]ltalánosan elismert igazság, hogy a legényembernek, ha vagyonos, okvetlenül kell feleség" (Büszkeség, Szenczi 1), while Weisz is writing that "[á]ltalánosan elfogadott igazság, hogy egy vagyonos, ám nőtlen fiatalembernek mindenképp asszonyra van szüksége (Büszkeség, Weisz 5)". Little differences can be found between the two in terms of register. For instance, "single man" is translated as "legényember" by Szenczi, and as "nőtlten fiatalamber" by Weisz. In Szenczi's case, "legényember" is not the best choice - although this word itself signs a "bachelor", "legény" itself means "boy", but in Hungarian it is rather used for the boy from the lower classes. Thus, Weisz's solution, "fiatalember", meaning "young man" is much more elegant than "legényember". Still, in the English sentence, there is only "single man", not young. The translators added a plus meaning to the sentence. Moreover, Weisz's solution, on the one hand appears as a bit archaic, while on the other hand, it looks modernised, not like in the case of Szenczi. Based on the first sentence, it would be worthwhile to compare all the translations of the novels in terms of their registers.

Böbe Weisz is regarded as an excellent translator in Hungary. She translated True Blood and many other best sellers into Hungarian, so her translations are usually predicted to succeed in Hungary. Weisz's translation of Pride and Prejudice published by Alinea for the novel's 200 years anniversary is held as a gifted one by the readers, but many comments on forums add the question: why does the Hungarian book market need another Büszkeség és Balítélet if there are really good translations? Seemingly, this publishing house  intended to have financial advantages (by the supposedly high seller ranks) - the Austen fans would certainly buy the new book, and the name of a good translator is a good gimmick. This idea can be supported by the Austen-products of Alinea which the publishing house advertises on its official web page. Alinea sells Büszkeség és Balítélet-mugs and fridge magnets with quotations from the novel in Weisz's translation. Moreover, there are even packages available on this web site, e.g. the novel and a mug, or the novel and the fridge magnet. Thus, we might declare: Jane Austen has a market in Hungary.

Secondly, In her 2007 article, "A Jane Austen-hadművelet" (The Jane Austen action) on Magyar Narancs Online, Judit Kádár is giving a clue to the rapidly growing retranslations of the 2000s.  According to Kádár, Ulpius did not get the right to re-publish the previous Hungarian translations of Austen's novels, so they had the novels retranslated, although the approximately thirty years old translations of Ilona Rónai and Miklós Szenczi would be enjoyable to read today as well. Though there are some gaps in the terminology of the translations of Rónai and Szenczi, Kádár claims that with footnotes these translations would be fine today (Magyar Narancs). As a result, a sort of Austen-industry has been built in Hungary the last two decades. Novels based on Jane Austen's stories inspired by her plots, characters and her life, using her venues and characters, have been being published over and over. An enormous amount of novels have appeared in the publishing industry from the early 1990s till today in English, the translation of these books into Hungarian mainly began in the early 2000s. It seems that a whole new industry has been built on Austen's heritage, and lately it is definitely fashionable to continue Austen's pieces or write new ones adapting her style. According to the high seller ranks of these novels in Hungary, it can be declared that Jane Austen is fashionable in Hungary. Almost all these newly-written books have been translated into Hungarian which indicates that there is a need in Hungary to publish these sort of books. Her life also inspires readers and writers. The data on her life are not as wide as her fans would wish, which still attracts their imagination as one can see it by the list of the Austen-inspired books. Notwithstanding, her biographical books have been translated into Hungarian as well: The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James, 2007 as Jane Austen Naplója (translated by Anikó Gergely, published by Kelly Kiadó[7], 2008), Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin, 2000 as Jane Austen Élete in Hungarian (translated by Katalin Sipos, published by Európa in 2010).The list of Austen-inspired books published in Hungary is the following:

Mansfield Revisited by Joan Aiken in 1984, the continuation of Mansfieldi Park, translated by Marianne Kiss in 2007 as Visszatérés a mansfieldi kastélyba, published by Lazi in Hungary.

Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken in 1990, the continuation of Emma, translated by  Enikő Mohácsi in 2007 as Jane Fairfax, published by Lazi in Hungary.

Elinor and Marianne by Emma Tennant in 1996, the continuation of Sense and Sensibility, translate by Mária Borbás in Hungary published by Palatinus in 2005 as Elinor és Marianne.

Uninvited Guests by Jane Gillespie in 1994, the continuation of Northanger Abbey translated by Zsuzsa N. Kiss as Hívatlan vendégek, in Hungary published by Palatinus in 2005.

Presumption by Julia Barrett in 1993, the continuation of Pride and Prejudice, translated by Ildikó Arbanász as Önteltség és önámítás, published by Lazi in Hungary, in 2008 and 2001.

The Third Sister by Julia Barrett in 1996, translated by Ildikó Arbanász  as A harmadik nővér  published by Lazi in 2008, 2006 and 2002.

The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins, the continuation of  Pride and Prejudice in 2008, translated by Tímea Fügedi as Pemberley-krónikák, published in Hungary by IPC in 2010.

Lady Catherine's Necklace by Joan Aiken in 2000, the continuation of Pride and Prejudice, translated by Bence Mártha as Lady Catherine nyakéke, published in Hungary by Lazi, in 2008.

Woman of Pemberley by Rebecca Ann Collins, the continuation of Pride and Prejudice in 2008, translated by Zsuzsanna Miklósi ad Pemberley asszonyai in 2011, published by IPC.

The Ladies of Longbourn by Rebecca Ann Collins in 2008, the continuation of Pride and Prejudice translated by Ágnes Stier as A longbourni hölgyek, published in Hungary by IPC i 2013. 

Netherfield Park Revisited by Rebecca Ann Collins 2008, the continuation of Pride and Prejudice translated by Ágnes Stier as Visszatérés a Netherfield Parkba, published in Hungary in  by IPC in 2012.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James in 2011, the contuniation of Pride and Prejudice translated byÁgnes Simonyi as A halál jár Pemberley-ben published by 21. század, in 2012.

Longbourn by Jo Baker in 2013, translated by Tímea Fügedi as Longbourne árnyékában, published by IPC in 2013.

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James in 2012 as Az elveszett Jane Austen-kézirat, published by Cor Leonis in Hungary in 2013.

Pride and Prejudice and the Zombies, a 2009 parody novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, translated by Ádám Berta as Büszkeség és Balítélet és a Zombik, published by Athenaeum Kiadó in 2009.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James in 2008, translated by Anikó Gergely as Jane Austen naplója, published by Kelly in 2009 and 2008.

Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron, 1996, a detective novel translated by Eszter Fazekas as A titokzatos Tiszteletes, published by IPC in 2013.

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron in 1996, a detective novel translated by Eszter Fazekas as Az udvarház rejtélye, published by IPC in 2012.

Jane and the Wandering Eye by Stephanie Barron, 1998, a detective novel translated translated by Eszter Fazekas as Egy boszorkány portréja, published by IPC in 2014 in Hungary.

Besides the Austen-influenced novels, it is highly important to take her novels' film adaptation into account when arguing her reception in Hungary. There are plenty of blogs and forums on the Internet where one can encounter comments and articles from Hungarian fans, showing their devotion or opinion about the films. Though film adaptations had been also made before the 1990s, still, the 1995 Pride and Prejudice (TV series of six) by BBC, directed by Simon Langton, featuring  Jennifer Ehle (as Elisabeth) and Colin Firth (as Mr Darcy) carried all before one, and to all appearances that this film had such an overwhelming impact on the audience in Hungary that the interest in Austen reinforced. In her article on the website Origo, "Melyik a legjobb Jane Austen-film?" (Which Jane Austen-film is the best?), Ági Dömötör gives a rank of the best ten Austen-films, and claims that Mr Darcy as Colin Firth became a public treasure because of his extremely handsome look and breathtaking acting. She adds that the scene when he comes out of the lake wearing a wet shirt holds the audience spellbound (Dömötör). Moreover, this film's script is the closest to the texts of Austen's novels, most of the film's sentences are directly taken from the novel itself, word by word, so this can also be a reason why the audience is fond of this film.

However, the 1995 Pride and Prejudice film only takes the seventh place in Dömötör's list, since Elisabeth's character is not well formed by the actress (and some other disagreements), Dömötör suggests. A new PP has been filmed in 2005, which Dömötör regards to be the best Austen-film ever, featuring Keira Knightley as Elisabeth, and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy.  The 2005 PP film had a great success, and takes the first place on Dömötör's list, but to the average of Austen-fans, nobody can replace Colin Firth. I am convinced that Colin Firth as Mr Darcy on the screen took a great part in the development of the Hungarian Austenism in the early 2000s. Although no one says so directly, we apparently assume considering the dates of the Austen-related novels' publishing in Hungary that the "Colin Firth effect" may have raised the interest in Austen in Hungary after 1995 due to his romaticised figure. Mr Darcy's impact on the Hungarian female hearts was obviously reinforced by the 2001 film adaptation of contemporary Helen Fielding's romantic novel, Bridget Jones Diary, in which one of the main male characters' name is Darcy (Mark Darcy), played by Colin Firth again. A parallel can be found within Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones Diary: the love which seems to have no chance succeeds. Thus, Colin Firth warmed the heart of the audience again, and since Bridget Jones Diary was a hit in the early 2000s, I would like to argue that it may have added plus interest to the figure of the original, Austen's Mr Darcy. Besides Bridget Jones Diary, the film industry has produced a lot of Austen-inspired films, or novel adaptations in the 2000s (e.g. Lost in Austen, 2008, Becoming Jane, 2007, Austenland, 2007, Scents and Sensibility, 2011, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, 2012 TV series, etc.). Based on these examples, one might suppose that Jane Austen is highly interesting and fashionable in the film industry as well. Amongst these films, Becoming Jane as Jane Austen Magánélete in Hungarian (Jane Austen's private life) was a great success in Hungary, featuring  Anne Hathaway (as Jane Austen) and James McAvoy (as Tom Lefroy, Jane's love), presenting the life of Jane Austen with a love story. According to the forum comments on the website Interaktív Filmkataógus (Interactive Film Catalogue), the average of Hungarian Austen fans are fond of this film.

Jane Austen's popularity expanded so much in the early 2000s that two of her novels, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility were dramatized and taken into theatre in Hungary. Pride and Prejudice as a comedy was played in the 2000s in Budapest with the title Büszkeség és Balítélet in 2009, in Karinthy Színház (Karinthy Theatre), with distinguished Hungarian actors and actresses, such as Vera Venczel or Kitti Kéry. On www.jegy.hu, a web page which sells theatre tickets, one can read about this performance that it was to show the audience the important points in life, not only to present a romantic story. They claim that this story of Austen on stage may generate more questions now about women's place in society and modern democracies than it did at the time when Pride and Prejudice was written (jegy.hu). Consequently, this performance was a hit in Hungary. There are plenty of comments from the audience on this play on Magyar Színházi Portál - Színház.hu (Hungarian Theatre Portal), explaining that it was an amazing and entertaining experience for the audience, and many of them had seen it more times. A fan commented that he had seen it around fifty times in 2012. Sense and Sensibility as Értelem és Érzelem was first put on stage in Hungary in 2011 by Petőfi Színház (Petőfi Theatre), in Veszprém, with popular actors and actresses as in the case of Pride and Prejudice, and it was also a great success.

There is a Jane Austen cult in Hungary, which can be recognized by the retranslations of her novels published one by one, year by year, the strong presence of the Austen-inspired books in the Hungarian book market, the dramatized versions of her novels on stage, the Austen-products available on the Internet, the book blogs which frequently present articles about topics within Austen, and the forums giving current feedback about the Austen novels. The film adaptations, mainly the acting of Colin Firth may have reinforced the interest in Austen in Hungary in the early  2000s. However, the Hungarian Austen-mania is rather due to that her works are still enjoyable, and that people today need that experience which a Jane Austen novel can provide us - romance with parody, emotions and realistic social depictions.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Büszkeség és Balítélet. Translated by Miklós Szenczi. Európa.1975. Print.

Austen, Jane. Büszkeség és Balítélet. Translated by Böbe Weisz. Alinea. 2013. Print.

Dömötör, Ági. Melyik a legjobb Jane Austen-film? Origo. Web. 2nd January 2015. http://www.origo.hu/archivum/20100906-a-tiz-legjobb-jane-austenfilm-buszkeseg-es-balitelet-ertelem-es.html

Katherine's Bookstore. Érzelem és értelem - Könyvek Jane Austen életéről. 30th 2011 December. Katherine's Bookstore. Web. 9th January 2015. http://katherines-bookstore.blogspot.hu

Katherine's Bookstore. Jane Austen bibliográfia. Katherine's Bookstore. 28th December 2011. Web. 8th January 2015. http://katherines-bookstore.blogspot.hu

Kádár, Judit. A Jane Austen-hadművelet. Magyar Narancs Online. Web. 30th December 2014. http://magyarnarancs.hu/kepzomuveszet/a_jane_austen-hadmuvelet-68088

Séllei, Nóra. Jane Austen: Our Contemporary in Hungary in "The Reception of Jane Austen in Europe" ed. Anthony Mandal adn Brian Southam. Continuum. London: 2007. Web. Google books. 20th December 2014.

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[1] Kossuth Publishing House

[2] Ulpius Publishing House

[3] Rebeka és Panni Publishing House

[4] Lazi Publishing House

[5] Európa Publishing House

[6] Alinea Publishing House

[7] Kelly Publishing House

Photo: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/