Women’s Literary Tradition and Twentieth-Century Hungarian Writers : Renée Erdős, Ágnes Nemes Nagy, Minka Czóbel, Ilona Harmos Kosztolányi, Anna Lesznai

In Women’s Literary Tradition and Twentieth-Century Hungarian Writers, Anna Menyhért examines the work and reception of five 20th century Hungarian women writers excluded from the canon, and argues that including them will reinstate important cultural memory and inspire young, female, aspiring writers. Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Contents Foreword: A Writer in Search of Her Foremothers Acknowledgements Illustrations Translator’s Note Chapter 1 A Tradition of One’s Own 1 A Tradition of Forgetting 2 Canons and Sinking Streams 3 Women’s Literature 4 My Own Say 5 From Room to Room, All the Way to My Own Room 6 A Portrait Gallery on the Museum’s Postcard Chapter 2 Between Love and the Canon: Renée Erdős (1879–1956) 1 Author’s House: Closed 2 Private Life – Literary Life 3 A Woman Writer at the Journal Future 4 The Woman Writer’s Chances 5 Voices in the Novels 6 Fracture 7 Success in Her Time 8 Contemporary Reviews 9 The Label of Erotic Lady Author 10 Female Voice, Female Verse 10.1 Do Leave Off, I Came to You ..., The Pearls I Wear around My Neck 11 The Author’s House Is Open Chapter 3 In the Canon with Secrets: Ágnes Nemes Nagy (1922–1991) and Women’s Literary Tradition 1 The Weeping Poetess 2 Secret Poems and the Writing of Literary History 3 The Female Poet and Objective Poetry 4 Woman’s Room, Woman’s Landscape, Woman’s Body 4.1 In a Strange Room ..., Impersonal, Female Landscape, Love 5 Self-Liquidation and Recognition 6 A Woman’s Role 6.1 American Diary 7 Statue and Mask 7.1 Statues i Carried i, ii, The Leaving 8 Women’s Poetic Tradition 9 Entering the Room 10 Epilogue Chapter 4 No Canon for Otherness – The Witch: Minka Czóbel (1855–1947) 1 The Enigmatic Monographer 2 The Mysterious Bob 3 Detective Work 4 Painting a Portrait 5 Writing between the Lines 6 Ugly, Ugly, Not Fit for the Canon 7 Contemporary Views of Minka Czóbel 8 The Feminist Witch 8.1 Donna Juanna 9 The Otherness of the Witch 9.1 Witch Songs, Blizzard, People Are Sleeping, The Voice of the Forest iii 10 Loss of Control 10.1 The Moving Shore 11 Perversion, Horror, Revenge, Web 11.1 Two Golden Hairs, Miter’s Bride, Spiders’ Webs 12 Boundaries, Mirrors 12.1 The Wind, a Blue Parasol 13 Reading the Witch Chapter 5 Mirror, Body, Trauma – A Writer’s Wife at the Edge of the Canon: Ilona Harmos Kosztolányi (1885–1967) 1 To Big Girls about Little Girls 1.1 Writers’ Wives – Portraits of Contemporaries 2 Widow, Pigeonholed: the Writer’s Wife 3 Female Reading 4 Body 4.1 Born with a Caul 5 Mirror 5.1 Madame Dezső Kosztolányi: Dezső Kosztolányi 6 Women’s Holocaust Memoirs 6.1 In Red-Hot Shoes 7 Trauma: Persecutors and Persecuted 8 Setting the Stage for Death 9 Connections: Ilona Harmos, Minka Czóbel, Dezső Kosztolányi, Ágnes Nemes Nagy 10 The Writing Woman 11 Sitting Down at the Writing Desk Chapter 6 Museum, Cult, Memory – Locked in the Canon: Anna Lesznai (1885–1966) 1 Memory’s Volunteers 2 The Well-Known Woman Writer 3 Museum, Cult, Memory 4 Dusting Off a Novel 5 Belatedness and Renewal 6 Threads and Patterns 7 Female Figures 8 A Father’s Blessing 9 The Novel that Remembers 10 Nižný Hrušov – Memory’s Touch Appendix 1 List of Poems and Their Translators Bibliography Index of Subjects Index of Names and Places Foreword: a Writer in Search of Her Foremothers / Nadezhda Alexandrova and Suzan van Dijk -- Acknowledgements -- List of Illustrations -- Translator's Note -- 1. A Tradition of One's Own : A Tradition of Forgetting -- Canons and Sinking Streams -- Women's Literature -- My Own Say -- From Room to Room, All the Way to My Own Room -- A Portrait Gallery on the Museum's Postcard -- 2. Between Love and the Canon: Renée Erdős (1879- 1956) : Author's House: Closed -- Private Life - Literary Life -- Woman Writer at the Journal Future -- The Woman Writer's Chances -- Voices in the Novels -- Fracture -- Success in Her Time -- Contemporary Reviews -- The Label of Erotic Lady Author -- Female Voice, Female Verse -- The Author's House Is Open -- 3. In the Canon with Secrets: Ágnes Nemes Nagy (1922- 1991) and the Women's Literary Tradition : The Weeping Poetess -- Secret Poems and the Writing of Literary History -- The Female Poet and Objective Poetry -- Woman's Room, Woman's Landscape, Woman's Body -- Self- Liquidation and Recognition -- A Woman's Role -- Statue and Mask -- Women's Poetic Tradition -- Contents -- Entering the Room -- Epilogue -- 4. No Canon for Otherness - The Witch: Minka Czóbel (1854- 1943) : The Enigmatic Monographer -- The Mysterious Bob -- Detective Work -- Painting a Portrait -- Writing between the Lines -- Ugly, Ugly, Not Fit for the Canon -- Contemporary Views of Minka Czóbel -- The Feminist Witch -- The Otherness of the Witch -- Loss of Control -- Perversion, Horror, Revenge, Web -- Boundaries, Mirrors -- Reading the Witch -- 5. Mirror, Body, Trauma - A Writer's Wife at the Edge of the Canon: Ilona Harmos Kosztolányi (1885- 1967) : To Big Girls about Little Girls -- Widow, Pigeonholed: the Writer's Wife -- Female Reading -- Body -- Mirror -- Women's Holocaust Memoirs -- Trauma: Persecutors and Persecuted -- Setting the Stage for Death -- Connections: Ilona Harmos, Minka Czóbel, Dezső Kosztolányi, Ágnes Nemes Nagy -- The Writing Woman -- Sitting Down at the Writing Desk -- 6. Museum, Cult, Memory - Locked in the Canon: Lesznai (1885- 1966) : Memory's Volunteers -- The Well- Known Woman Writer -- Museum, Cult, Memory -- Dusting Off a Novel -- Belatedness and Renewal -- Threads and Patterns -- Female Figures -- A Father's Blessing -- The Novel that Remembers -- Nižný Hrušov - Memory's Touch -- Appendix 1: List of Poems and Their Translators -- Appendix 2: A List of Titles of Works Referred to in English and in Hungarian In Women's Literary Tradition and Twentieth-Century Hungarian Writers, Anna Menyhért presents the cases of five women writers whose legacy literary criticism has neglected or distorted, thereby depriving succeeding generations of vital cultural memory and inspiration. A best-selling novelist and poet in her time, Renée Erdős wrote innovatively about women's experience of sexual love. Minka Czóbel wrote modern trauma texts only to pass into literary history branded, as a result of ideological pressure in communist times, as an'ugly woman'. Ágnes Nemes Nagy, celebrated for her ‘masculine'poems, felt she must suppress her ‘feminine'poems. Famous writer's widow Ilona Harmos Kosztolányi's autobiographical writing tackles the physical challenges of girls'adolescence, and offers us a woman's thoughtful Holocaust memoir. Anna Lesznai, émigrée and visual artist, wove together memory and fiction using techniques from patchworking and embroidery. "In Women's Literary Tradition and Twentieth-Century Hungarian Writers, Anna Menyhért presents the cases of five women writers whose legacy literary criticism has [been] neglected or distorted, thereby depriving succeeding Hungarian generations of vital cultural memory and the inspiration that [they] bring. The bold voices of poets Renée Erdős and Minka Czóbel challenged gender norms in relation to sex and relationships. Ágnes Nemes Nagy, celebrated for her 'masculine' poems, felt she must suppress her 'feminine' poems. Famous writer's widow Ilona Harmos Kosztolányi's autobiographical writing tackles the physical challenges of girl's adolescence, and offers us a woman's thoughtful Holocaust narrative. Anna Lesznai, émigrée and visual artist, drew on techniques from the crafts of patchworking and embroidery in structuring her family saga"-- Provided by publisher In 'Women?s Literary Tradition and Twentieth-Century Hungarian Writers', Anna Menyhért presents the cases of five women writers whose legacy literary criticism has neglected or distorted, thereby depriving succeeding Hungarian generations of vital cultural memory and the inspiration that brings. The bold voices of poets Renée Erdös and Minka Czóbel challenged gender norms in relation to sex and relationships. Ágnes Nemes Nagy, celebrated for her?masculine? poems, felt she must suppress her?feminine? poems. Famous writer?s widow Ilona Harmos Kosztolányi?s autobiographical writing tackles the physical challenges of girl?s adolescence, and offers us a woman?s thoughtful Holocaust narrative. Anna Lesznai, émigrée and visual artist, drew on techniques from the crafts of patchworking and embroidery in structuring her family saga In Women's Literary Tradition and Twentieth-Century Hungarian Writers, Anna Menyhért presents the cases of five women writers whose legacy literary criticism has neglected or distorted, thereby depriving succeeding Hungarian generations of vital cultural memory and the inspiration that brings. The bold voices of poets Renée Erdős and Minka Czóbel challenged gender norms in relation to sex and relationships. Ágnes Nemes Nagy, celebrated for her 'masculine' poems, felt she must suppress her 'feminine' poems. Famous writer's widow Ilona Harmos Kosztolányi's autobiographical writing tackles the physical challenges of girl's adolescence, and offers us a woman's thoughtful Holocaust narrative. Anna Lesznai, émigrée and visual artist, drew on techniques from the crafts of patchworking and embroidery in structuring her family saga