Gábor Attila Csúr: “The Inclination to the Supernatural in the Middle Ages – A Critical Reading of Medieval Religiousness in Danish Historical Novels”
The article focuses on Danish historical prose fiction from the last two centuries and analyzes how the phenomenon ‘medievalism’, i. e. the interpretation, reception and recreation of the Middle Age, has changed during this period. Stereotypes about medieval religious thought and belief and the role of the church have always been popular features of historical novels. By analyzing the depictions of religiousness, the article attempts to draw a line of development in understanding medieval culture and everyday life.
For many centuries, Hungarian history and culture has been determined by both the country’s geographical position between “West” and “East” and its predominant desire to belong to the West. The concept of Hungary as an inferior culture on the periphery (which, however, managed to become an integrated part of Western Europe from time to time) at the very least stretches back to medieval sources. To compensate for the bitterness and unfulfilled demand to overcome the nation’s subjection to foreign powers, a great number of nineteenth- and twentieth-century political and cultural movements aimed towards gaining a more active and independent role in the region. In the 1880s and 1890s, the reception of the late 19th-century Danish literary critic Georg Brandes revealed new perspectives for Hungarian intellectuals and literary groups. When inspired by Brandes’s revolutionary thoughts and impact on Scandinavian society and literature, the goal of a broad-minded and modern Hungarian nation, as well as a successful breakout from a secondary role within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy seemed closer at hand.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.