The Freudian Tradition and Sociographical Context in Selected Works by Péter Hajnóczy

Abstract

This article undertakes a comparative analysis of Péter Hajnóczy’s short stories “The Heater” (1975) and “The Blood Donor” (1977), examining them through thematic, stylistic, and narrative lenses. The intention is to explore potential complementarity between these two texts, revealing shared themes. Both narratives unfold as profane depictions of suffering, tracing the stages of the protagonist’s disintegration and incorporating elements of the fantastic. “The Heater” can be interpreted as a paraphrase of the Kohlhaas motif, which was of significant importance in post-1945 East-Central European literature. Conversely, “The Blood Donor” centers around a butcher whose body serves as an inexhaustible source of blood. The exploration of madness and insanity within these narratives prompts a psychoanalytic inquiry, raising questions about the extent to which these stories draw upon Freudian case study traditions, or alternatively, how the Freudian case descriptions themselves might be considered works of literature. While the preparatory studies for “The Heater” exist in various forms among the writer’s manuscripts, the background of “The Blood Donor” remains relatively unknown.