Page 149 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 149
Play, Chaos and Autonomy in the Poetry of Hungarians in Voivodina (Uj Symposion) 149
ritual, entertainment, artistry, riddle-making, doctrine, persuasion, sorcery,
soothsaying, prophecy, and competition (1980, 120).
One of the main traits of poetry is thus play. For Ex-Yugoslav artists,
play manifested itself as experimentation, spontaneity, unconventional-
ity. Symposionists came under the influence of the trend called ludism
elaborated by Slovenian and Croatian poets. It was not merely an influ-
ence, however, but a playful competition permeating the entire Yugosla-
vian art scene. Apparently, Szerbhorváth was not aware of this dimension
and uttered a huge misinterpretation: “Symposionists, roughly speaking,
were sometimes the imitators of imitators. They were wearing current
Western gears even after Yugoslavians themselves wore them off” (1980,
120). For one, ‘current Western gears’ fertilized Hungarian culture in a
number of cases; it is enough to recall the turn-of-the-century Hungari-
an journal Nyugat (West) and its authors. The struggle to catch up with
developed Western cultures has been a Hungarian issue since the foun-
dation of the state (at that time, the ideological background and motiva-
tion was Christianity and not Europe-discourse, yet the process of Euro-
peanization started there and then). Symposionist authors did not simply
imitate Western European and American styles and trends, which they
became familiar with through the Southern Slavic filter, but in a num-
ber of cases they created works in par with them in the spirit of Yugo-
slavian competition. If Szerbhorváth’s aim was to analyse the develop-
ment of Symposionist literature from an educational psychological point
of view, he might have considered the fact that imitation was not neces-
sarily a negative phenomenon but rather an integral part of the learning
and creative process.2 During that time Hungary followed a much more
closed cultural policy, and the tradition of Vojvodinian literature was not
strong and open enough, so it was only natural that the reception of the
literatures of Yugoslavian nations provided a path towards contemporary
world literature and art.
Some Symposionists broke loose from the confines of their provincial
minority experience by re-evaluating it from a higher perspective rath-
er than by negating it. They did not merely consume the Western Euro-
pean and American art as a trend but defined it as the horizon and con-
text of their own art. Naturally, not all Symposionist authors achieved
the same artistic level. Those who stood out received Serbian and Hun-
2 The idea of imitation as a process of learning originates from Plato (cf. the dialogue
Republic). As for the educational psychological point of view see the essays by Pálffy
Katalin Keményné (2002, 189—196) and Tamás Vekerdy (2016, 133).
ritual, entertainment, artistry, riddle-making, doctrine, persuasion, sorcery,
soothsaying, prophecy, and competition (1980, 120).
One of the main traits of poetry is thus play. For Ex-Yugoslav artists,
play manifested itself as experimentation, spontaneity, unconventional-
ity. Symposionists came under the influence of the trend called ludism
elaborated by Slovenian and Croatian poets. It was not merely an influ-
ence, however, but a playful competition permeating the entire Yugosla-
vian art scene. Apparently, Szerbhorváth was not aware of this dimension
and uttered a huge misinterpretation: “Symposionists, roughly speaking,
were sometimes the imitators of imitators. They were wearing current
Western gears even after Yugoslavians themselves wore them off” (1980,
120). For one, ‘current Western gears’ fertilized Hungarian culture in a
number of cases; it is enough to recall the turn-of-the-century Hungari-
an journal Nyugat (West) and its authors. The struggle to catch up with
developed Western cultures has been a Hungarian issue since the foun-
dation of the state (at that time, the ideological background and motiva-
tion was Christianity and not Europe-discourse, yet the process of Euro-
peanization started there and then). Symposionist authors did not simply
imitate Western European and American styles and trends, which they
became familiar with through the Southern Slavic filter, but in a num-
ber of cases they created works in par with them in the spirit of Yugo-
slavian competition. If Szerbhorváth’s aim was to analyse the develop-
ment of Symposionist literature from an educational psychological point
of view, he might have considered the fact that imitation was not neces-
sarily a negative phenomenon but rather an integral part of the learning
and creative process.2 During that time Hungary followed a much more
closed cultural policy, and the tradition of Vojvodinian literature was not
strong and open enough, so it was only natural that the reception of the
literatures of Yugoslavian nations provided a path towards contemporary
world literature and art.
Some Symposionists broke loose from the confines of their provincial
minority experience by re-evaluating it from a higher perspective rath-
er than by negating it. They did not merely consume the Western Euro-
pean and American art as a trend but defined it as the horizon and con-
text of their own art. Naturally, not all Symposionist authors achieved
the same artistic level. Those who stood out received Serbian and Hun-
2 The idea of imitation as a process of learning originates from Plato (cf. the dialogue
Republic). As for the educational psychological point of view see the essays by Pálffy
Katalin Keményné (2002, 189—196) and Tamás Vekerdy (2016, 133).
