Play, Chaos, and Autonomy in the Poetry of Hungarians in Vojvodina (Új Symposion)

Abstract

The study presents one of the most significant ex-Yugoslav poetry styles after the Second World War – ludism – in the context of Hungarian authors from Vojvodina gathered around the literary magazine Új Symposion (1965–1992, Novi Sad). They were under the pressure of the ambivalent political ideology of SFR Yugoslavia. Hungary has no tradition of ludism, which is one of the significant differences between the poetry of Hungarian poets in Hungary and those in Vojvodina (Serbia) in the period after the Second World War. The study shows the main poetical characteristics of ludism, its South Slavic authors (Tomaž Šalamun, Iztok Geister Plamen, Ivan Slamnig, Branko Maleš, Delimir Rešicki, Vojislav Despotov, Vladimir Kopicl, Vujica Rešin Tucić etc.), and the works of Hungarian “Symposionists” (István Domonkos, Katalin Ladik, Ottó Tolnai, Ottó Fenyvesi). The ludism was accused of blurring the borders between popular culture, subculture, alternative and high culture. The study shows the artistic results of this method (e.g. the poetics of video and collage). The Symposionist authors were accused of being “cosmopolitans”, “anarchists”, “nihilists” and similar by the officials in Vojvodina. The art of Symposionists did not change the political system of Vojvodina during the period of SFRY and after it but it did provide an alternative space for artistic freedom.