Who Are The Most Translated Hungarian Writers?
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According to international statistics of book translations, Hungarian is the 18th most common source language. Who are the most translated Hungarian writers?
The Hungarian language can call itself very lucky from a cultural point of view. If we count 15 million Hungarian speakers, then Hungarian is roughly the 60th largest language, yet our language is the 18th most common source language in terms of book translations.
According to the data of the UNESCO Index Translationum, in the last thirty years, Imre Kertész and Sándor Márai have been translated into foreign languages the most. Now, the two authors almost share the first place, with 215 and 213 translations of their works in the last thirty years. This also shows an almost ideal balance between the international and local appreciation of Hungarian literature.
According to a survey by the Helikon publishing house, Sándor Márai (1900-1989) is the most popular Hungarian writer among Hungarian readers, while Imre Kertész's Nobel Prize in 2002 confirms his significant international recognition.
In fact, both authors have only started to be translated into foreign languages in the last 10-15 years. In the case of Márai, it is because the writer did not even agree to the Hungarian publication of his works before the fall of socialism, and Kertész's works became sought-after with the Nobel Prize itself, and thus also translated in large numbers.
Wikipedia articles about the two writers can be found in many languages. In the case of Kertész, we can read in more than 50 languages, but Márai can also be read in at least 29 languages. For comparison, it is worth mentioning that we can find articles about Sándor Petőfi in 35 languages and about János Arany in 19 languages on Wikipedia.
The list of the ten most translated Hungarian authors also includes twentieth-century classic Hungarian writers such as Ferenc Molnár (1878-1952) in third place with 126 translations, and Magda Szabó (1917-2007), who recently died at the age of 90, in sixth place with 78 translations, and Dezső Kosztolányi (1885-1936) in eighth place with 68 translations. The titles of the works of these authors, such as The Paul Street Boys, Abigél or Esti Kornél, may sound familiar even to those who are less fans of literature, but the works of the three contemporary Hungarian writers included in the list are no longer among the generally known literary works.
Many people know the names of Péter Esterházy, György Konrád and Péter Nádas, but their specific works are less part of the genre of popular literature. They owe their international success to their weighty, serious and often postmodern writings.
Here is the full list:
1
Kertész Imre 215
2
Márai Sándor 213
3
Molnár Ferenc 126
4
Esterházy Péter 118
5
Konrád György 106
6
Szabó Magda 78
7
Nádas Péter 74
8
Kosztolányi Dezső 68
9
Hemző Károly 64
10
Lajos Mari 59
Who are you favourite Hungarian writers? Share it with us!
Nora, OLS Community Manager – Hungarian