Highlights of Hungarian Literature, Cinema and Art

The course fee for 2-week ONLINE courses - is 560 EUR. All applicants are required to pay 100 EUR registration fee (out of this 560) at registration. The registration fee is non-refundable.

Credits: 6 EC

Our course offers ECTS points, which may be accepted for credit transfer by the participants' home universities. Those who wish to obtain these credits should inquire about the possible transfer at their home institution prior to their enrolment. The International Strategy Office will send a transcript to those who have fulfilled all the necessary course requirements and request one.

Venue: Department of English Studies, School of English and American Studies, Faculty of Humanities

APPLICATION:

Please pay the registration fee and fill out this form: https://www.elte.hu/en/highlights-bsu2024

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to offer a comprehensive introduction to Hungarian culture through some representative literary and art works. Students will be acquainted with some of the most fascinating manifestations of Hungarian art and will be invited to look into the social and historical circumstances under which they were created. Participants of the course will read short stories and poems by renowned Hungarian authors in English translation and will watch and discuss the most influential and captivating movies of the past few decades. Representative works of Hungarian painting, photography, and music will also be integrated in the investigation. While the course is designed to reveal art against the backdrop of historical and social processes, the discussions will also explore the internal world of art and the ways in which works are constructed and linked. Ethical and aesthetic questions raised by the works will be highlighted as well. Besides, placing the literary texts and films into relevant regional and European contexts will contribute to their deeper understanding. The joint examination of the autonomous yet interconnected art forms – literature, cinema, the fine arts, and music – and the combination of theory and practice will enable students to immerse in aspects of Hungarian culture and explore the culture of a Central European nation. 

Recommended to: The course is open to all who are studying or graduated in the humanities or social sciences, and also to anyone interested in the culture of the Central European region with a focus on its literature, film, and other arts.

Course Schedule

• Day 1 Monday – An Introduction to Hungarian History and Culture
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Orientation: Introduction and discussion of themes, assignments and assessment
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Presentation: An overview of Hungarian history and culture 1
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Presentation: An overview of Hungarian history and culture 2, Q&A and discussion
• Day 2 Tuesday – History and the Individual
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: Mom and Other Loonies in the Family, directed by Ibolya Fekete
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Short stories: “Seven Pennies” by Zsigmond Móricz, “A Holiday Swim” and “Omelette à Woburn” by Dezső Kosztolányi
• Day 3 Wednesday – History and Ethics
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: 1945, directed by Ferenc Török
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Poem and short stories: “The Book of Jonah” by Mihály Babits, “The Circus” and “Barabbas” by Frigyes Karinthy
• Day 4 Thursday – Life and Art after World War II
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: The Witness, directed by Péter Bacsó
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Poem and short stories: “Love” by Tibor Déry, “Report on Five Mice” by Miklós Mészöly, “There Were Too Many of Us” by Ferenc Sánta, “A Sentence about Tyranny” by Gyula Illyés
• Day 5 Friday Recent and Contemporary Art and Literature
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: Hukkle, directed by György Pálfi
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Short stories: “The Miraculous Life of Prince Bluebeard” by Péter Esterházy, “Sworn Statement” by Imre Kertész
• Day 6 Monday – Hungarian Literature and Folk Tradition
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Introduction: A Brief Survey of Major Themes and Genres in Hungarian Culture
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Films: Sing, directed by Kristóf Deák; The Star-Eyed Shepherd, directed by Marcell Jankovics; group discussion of the films
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Poem, short story and music: “The Bards of Wales” by János Arany; “Barbarians” by Zsigmond Móricz; “Evening in the Village” by Béla Bartók
• Day 7 Tuesday – Jewish Culture in Hungary: Verbal and Visual Arts
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: Fateless, directed by Lajos Koltai
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Short stories, poems and photography: One-Minute Stories by István Örkény; “Forced March” by Miklós Radnóti; “The Accordionist” by George Szirtes; Hungarian Jewish photographers between the two World Wars
• Day 8 Wednesday – After World War II: Female Points of View
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: Diary for my Children, directed by Márta Mészáros
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Poems, short stories and art: poems by Ágnes Nemes Nagy & Anna Szabó T.; excerpts from Pixel by Krisztina Tóth and In Vitro H by Hajnalka Tarr
• Day 9 Thursday – “The Happiest Barrack”: Cultural Heritage & Adaptation
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: Snow White, directed by József Nepp
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Short story, poem and songs: “Philemon and Baucis” by Déry Tibor; “Learn by Heart This Poem of Mine” by György Faludy; Songs by Tamás Cseh
• Day 10 Friday – After the Change of the Regime in 1989: Male Points of View
  • 9:00-10:30 Class 1, Film: Kontroll, directed by Nimród Antal
  • 10:30-11:00 Break
  • 11:00-12:30 Class 2, Group discussion of the film
  • 12:30-13:30 Break
  • 13:30-15:00 Class 3, Poems: “Minority Status” by Győző Ferencz; “Ballad of the Tortured” by Tamás Jónás

Course requirements & evaluation

• Reading set texts for the class (course material is provided online)
• Active participation in class discussions
• Short oral student presentations on topics chosen from the reading list