Tanulmányok

This volume surveys the early twentieth‑century effort to bring Shakespeare’s poetry and drama into Hungarian, tracing how a handful of dedicated scholars and poets shaped the reception of the Bard in Central Europe. It foregrounds the work of Lőrincz Zsigmond, whose translations of Venus, Adonis and Lucretia are examined alongside the later contributions of Károly Szász and Vilmos Győry. The author situates their choices within the broader cultural debt that Hungarian literature felt toward Shakespeare, highlighting the tension between faithful rendering and creative adaptation.

Through close readings of selected sonnets, the book reveals the linguistic gymnastics required to preserve rhyme, meter and subtle humor in a different tongue. Helpful marginal notes explain where translators succeeded, where they stumbled, and why certain renderings still resonate with modern readers. Listeners will come away with a richer appreciation of the interplay between language, national identity and the timeless allure of Shakespeare’s verse.