2016-02-21

Frigyes Karinthy & Imre Madách (1)

I will write a version of this post in Esperanto, but as I am attempting to promote Karinthy in both English and Esperanto, I will begin with English. Actually, my last post was in Esperanto; this one specifically addresses the linkage between Karinthy and Madách, the latter's work concerned being The Tragedy of Man. It is not by chance that writers inspired by Karinthy were inspired also by Madách: examples are the Hungarian Esperantist writer Sándor Szathmári and the Hungarian-Canadian writer Robert Zend, both of whom referred to Karinthy as their "spiritual father."

Karinthy himself was invested in Madách, but the relevant works have not been translated into English or Esperanto. Hence I must cite the original Hungarian sources, and perhaps someone will take an interest in translating the relevant texts. I cannot read Hungarian, so I cannot address the content directly.

First, there is Karinthy's rewriting of the Tragedy. Here is a bibliographic reference:

Azemberke tragédiája Madách Imrike után Istenkéről, Ádámkáról és Luci Ferkóról. A versikéket írta Karinthy Frigyes. [Acsonkán fennmaradt kézirat kiegészítő részeit írta Karinthy Ferenc] Budapest: Új Idők, 1946. 42 pp.

The actual text can be found here: AZ EMBERKE TRAGÉDIÁJA ....

... and is embedded here:

MADÁCH IMRE

       ... in Így írtok ti (válogatás) [The way you write: selections].

The poem was recently illustrated by a Hungarian cartoonist, still in Hungarian but with a brief English introduction:

Karinthy Frigyes: The Tragedy of Little Man (Comic) by Antonia Nyilasi
This comedy, The tragedy of little man was written by Karinthy Frigyes following Madách Imre's dramatic poem The tradegy of the Man. Story about God and creation of the world, Adam and Eve, and the falling angel Lucifer. Lucifer guides Adam and Eve through the ages from the ancient age through today and the future while looking for the sense of Life.
Frigyes's son Ferenc, also an important writer, filled in the gaps in Frigyes's manuscript.

Karinthy wrote about Madách on several occasions. So far I have found these also; there may be more:

This one is from Nyugat (1923): Karinthy Frigyes: Madách. I.

I found three references in ....

Szavak pergőtüzében válogatta és a szöveget gondozta UNGVÁRI TAMÁS...

... specifically:
And finally, there is:

Tragédia-átfordítások Karinthy Frigyes írásaiban (Szeged–Budapest, 2011)
"Karinthy gyermekkorától rajongója volt Madách művének, ezért válhatott belőle »[...] talán minden idők legmélyebb Madách-értője«. Tizenhárom esztendősen írta naplójába a következő feljegyzést: »Madáchot isteni ihlet szállta meg, [...] hogy olyan igazán, olyan hatalmasan tud beszélni.«"
I hope that one day we can see an account (with translations) of the Karinthy-Madách connection in English and Esperanto.

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