Utopia Between East and West in Hungarian Literature

Zsolt Cziganyik is Associate Professor at Eoetvoes Lorand University, Hungary. He has been a visiting professor at Central European University, and a scholar at the Gerda Henkel Foundation. His research focuses on the interaction of politics and literature in modern and contemporary prose, especially in utopian and dystopian literature.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. The Circulation of Utopian Ideals in Hungary.- Chapter 3. The Moderate Optimism of the Enlightenment: Bessenyei in Totoposz.- Chapter 4. Failed Utopias in Human History: The Tragedy of Man by Imre Madách.- Chapter 5. Utopia Proper in Hungarian Literature: Eternal Peace and Future Technology in Mór Jókai's The Novel of the Century to Come.- Chapter 6. Gulliver in Hungary: Karinthy's Faremido and Capillaria.- Chapter 7. Dystopia in Interwar Hungary: Pilot Elza or the Perfect Society by Mihály Babits.- Chapter 8. Sándor Szathmári's Dystopias and the Positivistic Simplification of Humans.- Chapter 9. Conclusion./

"I regard this as a major work that invites comparison with other fictional philosophical treatments of artificial intelligence. Czigányik's rich overview of the unique Hungarian contribution to the common utopian tradition should secure recognition of Hungary's rightful place in it and stimulate needed further research." (Ralph Dumain, Hungarian Cultural Studies, Vol. 16, 2023)