Under Communism

Hungarian Literature

Course 1 · Chapter 7 · Writing Under Communism

From the late 1940s to 1989 Hungarian writers worked under a one-party state that controlled publishing, rewarded some authors and silenced others. The picture is not simply one of silence: some of the best Hungarian prose of the century appeared in these decades, often by writers who found ways of saying things indirectly. This chapter describes the system, then looks at four writers and the strategies they used. It handles the period factually, with attention to how writers worked within and around it. Names and dates are from general knowledge and flagged "check".

The System

The early years

After the communist takeover of the late 1940s, publishing was nationalised and a doctrine of socialist realism was imposed, with a requirement that literature serve the Party's aims (check the dates). Writers who did not conform were silenced, imprisoned or forced into translation and hack work.

After 1956

The uprising of October 1956 was crushed, and a period of reprisals was followed, from the early 1960s, by a gradual relaxation under János Kádár (Hungarian Music 7; check). The policy let more writing appear, within limits.

The three categories

Writers and works were informally sorted into those supported, those tolerated and those banned, sometimes called the "three Ts" in Hungarian (támogatott, tűrt, tiltott; check the term and how strictly it was applied). The same scheme is discussed in connection with popular music in Hungarian Music 7.

  • Mechanisms. State publishers, editors who acted as gatekeepers, review of manuscripts, control of paper and print runs, and informal pressure (check).
  • Self-censorship. Many writers learned what could not be said and adjusted in advance, which is harder to document than official bans.
  • Samizdat and exile. In the 1970s and 1980s some writers circulated typed manuscripts and journals outside official channels, and some works were published abroad (check).

Four Writers

Writer and work (check each)Note
István Örkény (1912 to 1979), Egyperces novellák (One Minute Stories, 1968)Very short, absurd and darkly comic pieces that satirise bureaucracy and the absurdity of daily life; they could be read as political comment without saying so directly. Örkény also wrote The Tót Family (check).
Géza Ottlik (1912 to 1990), Iskola a határon (School at the Frontier, 1959)A novel about cadets at a military boarding school, built on memory, loyalty and the pressure of an institution; it was influential for later writers (check). It was initially suppressed and then published.
Magda Szabó (1917 to 2007), Az ajtó (The Door, 1987)A novel about the relationship between a writer and her housekeeper; it was widely translated and won international attention in the 2000s (check).
Tibor Déry (1894 to 1977), Befejezetlen mondat (Unfinished Sentence, 1947)A senior writer of the earlier generation; imprisoned after 1956 for his role in the uprising's aftermath, he was later released (check).
Indirect speech Writers used several strategies: absurd and grotesque comedy, historical settings that echoed the present, private and domestic subjects, and a language so layered that officials and readers could take it differently. Readers learned to read between the lines. The method worked because it was shared, and it also has limits: a message that is hidden from the censor can be hidden from later readers, and it is easy to read protest into works that were not meant that way (check; see the caution in Hungarian Music 7).

Other Voices

  • Poets. Weöres, Pilinszky and Nemes Nagy continued to write (Chapter 6), some publishing little for years.
  • Drama and film. Playwrights and filmmakers also worked under the same system (see Hungarian Film & Television, planned in this series).
  • Émigré writers. Writers who left in 1956 or later, such as the novelist and critic Sándor Márai, wrote and published abroad (Chapter 8; check).
A British comparison The closest British parallel is the Lord Chamberlain's control of the theatre until 1968 (check), where plays had to be licensed and writers learned to work within limits. The Hungarian system was far broader and harsher, but the habit of writing so as to pass the censor shows a common pattern.
Check the details Dates, the history of censorship and individual writers' fates are from general knowledge, and accounts have been revised since 1989 as archives opened. Verify against literary histories and archival studies, and treat claims of hidden protest in individual works with caution.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Describe how literature was controlled in Hungary between 1948 and 1989 and explain why the control changed over time.

→ Solution
Exercise 2

Choose one of the four writers and explain how their work could comment on the system without attacking it directly.

→ Solution
Exercise 3

Explain the risks of reading works from this period as secret protest, and how you would test such a reading.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

  • The system: socialist realism in the early years; relaxation after 1956 (check)
  • The categories: supported, tolerated, banned (check)
  • Writers: Örkény, Ottlik, Szabó, Déry (check)
  • The method: absurdity, history, private life, layered language
  • The caution: reading in protest is easy and often unproven