History
The history of the Bibliography Section
The Bibliography Section was established in 1957, headed by Gábor G. Kemény, who was followed by Sándor V. Kovács, Kálmán Varga, and György Kókay. The section enjoyed its first heyday under deputy director Tibor Klaniczay (the section operated under the supervision and control of its respective deputy director). Klaniczay, a legendary literary historian, tried to provide every opportunity for the preparation and publication of bibliographic manuals also later in his capacity as director.
The revitalization and complete modernization of basic research in bibliography can be dated from 2012, the start of Gábor Kecskeméti’s tenure as head, who considered bibliography and digital literary studies primary and strategic tasks of the Institute. The section was headed by Mária Stauder between 2013 and September 2017. Tünde Császtvay has been head of the section since September 2017 and has made the operation of the section even more dynamic based on the principles inherited.
The present status of bibliography research
The modern digital data collection indispensable for Hungarian literary studies research started in the Institute for Literary Studies in 2012. The online database has been expanding ever since then, as well as developing in its functionality. The database is being built partly through the retroconversion of paper-based publications, and partly by collecting current material.
The eight volumes of the series A magyar irodalomtörténet bibliográfiája (The Bibliography of Hungarian Literary History), created in the Institute, collected the data until 1970. The relevant bibliographic compilations of the National Széchényi Library contain the literature on literary history between 1966–1990, the structure of which is also based on the annual literary history bibliography published in Irodalomtörténeti Közlemények (Announcements in Literary History). Work on the series A magyar irodalomtörténet bibliográfiája (The Bibliography of Hungarian Literary History), published by the Institute, continued in 2007. The bibliographic handbooks covering the literary history of the years 1991–1995 and 1996–2000 were published in 2007 and 2013, respectively.
Digitized volumes:
http://www.iti.mta.hu/mib/index.html
Searchable databases:
- Volume II: http://www.iti.mta.hu/mib/kereses02.php
- Volume III: http://www.iti.mta.hu/mib/kereses03.php
After its establishment in 1957, the small section continued its wide-ranging and comprehensive data collection with the help of external contributors, as well as the respective interns of the given period; however, the classification of items has always been done by our tenured colleagues, just like the configuration of the classes, the sorting of items into the relevant classes, as well as the editing and redacting of the volumes. Work was first launched on a multi-volume bibliographic handbook of literary studies, divided into different periods, as well as work on smaller reference bibliography works. The retrospective bibliographic handbook of Hungarian literary history follows the divisions of the Hungarian literary history manual that was under preparation at the same time: it is divided into volumes and sections according to the different periods of literary history, with each section comprising a general and a personal part.
The volumes of A magyar irodalomtörténet bibliográfiája (The Bibliography of Hungarian Literary History) include:
- Béla Stoll, Imre Varga, Sándor V. Kovács, until 1772, Bp., 1972;
- György Kókay, 1772–1849, Bp., 1975;
- III. Györgyi H. Törő, Miklós Nagy, Ildikó Tódor, 1849–1905: General part – Personal part A–Gy, Bp., 1990;
- Ildikó Tódor, Tünde Császtvay, 1849–1905: Personal part H–Zs, Bp., 1997;
- Zsófia B. Hajtó, 1905–1970: General part, Bp., 1997;
- Ferenc Botka, Kálmán Vargha, 1905–1945: Personal part A–K, Bp., 1982;
- Botka Ferenc, Vargha Kálmán, 1905–1945: Personal part L–Zs, Bp., 1989;
- Ferenc Botka, 1945–1970: Personal part, Bp., 1991;
- Zsófia B. Hajtó, Karola Csóra, 1991–1995, Bp., 2007;
- Karola Csóra, 1996–2000, Bp., 2013
The section started digital bibliographic data collection in 2013 for a public online site to host a bibliography of literary studies which summarizes the data of the period following the tenth bibliographic volume.
Searchable database (continuously extended)
http://www.iti.mta.hu/mib/kereses.php
The records of the bibliographic database of the Institute for Literary Studies is also open to research projects in the digital humanities. Feel free to contact our colleagues!
Other current bibliographic work in the Institute for Literary Studies
Beside the priority task of compiling handbooks, several thematic bibliographies and repertories have been prepared either by the section or with its help. To mention a few examples:
Nyugat-repertórium (Nyugat repertory) (Ferenc Galambos, 1959). In addition, the Institute also commissioned Ferenc Galambos to prepare several much-needed specialized bibliographies, which still remain in carbon copy, although they are available in the reading rooms of the National Széchényi Library, for example, A bécsi magyar emigráció újságjai és folyóiratai 1919–1933 (The newspapers and periodicals of the Hungarian emigrant community in Vienna 1919–1933).
Further bibliographic publications edited and published with cooperation by the section include A népi írók bibliográfiája (Bibliography of populist writers) (Rózsa Varga, Sándor Patyi, Ildikó Tódor, 1972) and A magyar sajtótörténet irodalmának válogatott bibliográfiája 1705–1945 (Selected bibliography of the literature on Hungarian media history 1705–1945) (György Kókay, Erzsébet Sinka, Györgyi H. Törő, Farkas József, Tamás Dersi, 1979).
The section also supported the creation of A jugoszláviai magyar irodalom éves bibliográfiája (Annual bibliography of Hungarian literature in Yugoslavia), edited between 1968–1985 by László Pastyik (Institute of Hungarian Studies, Novi Sad), and Vigilia-repertórium 1935–1984 (Vigilia repertory 1935–1984) (Mária Stauder, 1987).
Several authors’ bibliographies have also been prepared at the Institute with the help of the scientific results of the Bibliography Section. The Babits Mihály-bibliográfia (Mihály Babits bibliography) (Mária Stauder, Katalin Varga, 1998) was published in cooperation with the Petőfi Literary Museum and formed the basis of the Babits Mihály kritikai kiadás (Critical edition of Mihály Babits); the Pilinszky János-bibliográfia (Bibliography of János Pilinszky) (József Bende, Zoltán Hafner, 2001) and the Kertész Imre-bibliográfia (Bibliography of Imre Kertész) (Zoltán Hafner, 2009) have also been completed. In addition, our colleagues at the Institute have prepared several festschrifts to celebrate important birthdays or pay tribute in commemorative publications, collating data on the oeuvre of numerous literary scholars.
Projects
Research projects
Research projects conducted at the Bibliography Section
The section started digital bibliographic data collection in 2013 for a public online web portal to host a bibliography of literary studies, which summarizes the data of the period following the tenth bibliographic volume.
Work started by collecting the annual theoretical literature in literary history for 2013 with a relevance to Hungary. This small group is collecting data on literary studies in such a broad circle that is unprecedented. Colleagues monitor almost 700 periodicals and continuously survey the material of 450-500 journals. They collect each item manually, classifying and annotating it. When compiling the list of newspapers and journals to be surveyed, special attention was paid to foreign-language outlets open to related disciplines and to including regional periodicals and journals. In 2017 the collecting of specialized books and collections of essays also began.
The other top-priority task is the retroconversion of the ten-volume bibliography handbook on literary history published earlier. This means making the read-only pdf files searchable in a database that is available free of charge to everyone. Until September 2017 Csilla Nagy conducted this work (part-time), from 2017 two young researchers, Katalin Bucsics and Eszter Szabó-Reznek, from 2019 another young researcher, Anita Káli has joined the work of the Bibliography Section (all of them part-time), mainly doing retroconversions. All young researchers and many members of the Institute for Literary Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences participate in the preparatory work for converting the volumes into a database, coordinated and supervised by the head of the section. In 2018, the section gained another member: Szilvia Maróthy, beside working on tasks of retroconversion and verification, focuses on the digital humanities application of the bibliographic data set.
Beside their bibliographic work, the head and the members of the section also do serious scientific research or artistic tasks, teach in higher education, and participate in or lead various scientific-artistic projects. We believe that the irreplaceable strength and material knowledge needed for this is provided by bibliography.
All work that has been completed or is under preparation, as well as news concerning the life and members of the section are made public via the bibliographic web portal of the Institute for Literary Studies.
In the near future we are planning to do online and personal consultancy, courses of professional development, and educational lectures on the following topics: introduction to bibliography, state-of-the-art technologies in bibliography preparation, using the bibliographic data set in digital humanities. The practical guide Bibliográfiai útmutató: Hogyan készül az Irodalomtudományi Intézet modern bibliográfiai adatbázisa? (Bibliography guide: How is the modern bibliographic database of the Institute for Literary Studies created?) is already available at our website, while guides for the new citation system are available through the Institute’s web portal, with which the colleagues at our section can also provide assistance: Az Irodalomtudományi Intézet címleírási rendje. (The citation system of the Institute for Literary Studies.)
For further information see:
Gábor Kecskeméti, “Filológiai problémák a magyarországi irodalomtudományi kutatásban és a számítógépes kézirat-előkészítésben (Philological problems in Hungarian literary studies research and in computer-based preparation of manuscripts)”, in Bevezetés a régi magyarországi irodalom filológiájába, ed. Emil Hargittay, Bp., Universitas Könyvkiadó, 2003, 132–146. https://mek.oszk.hu/18000/18020/18020.pdf#page=135
Szilvia Maróthy, “Elektronikus forráskritika (Electronic resource critique)”, Könyv, Könyvtár, Könyvtáros 26 (2017) vol. 6, 15–20. http://ki2.oszk.hu/3k/2017/06/elektronikus-forraskritika/#more-9035
The “Bibliográfia” entry on Wikipédia provides an easier overview: https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliogr%C3%A1fia.
Hungarica research
Hungarica research is the exploration of sources related to Hungarian language, history, society, and culture. Its aim is to collect, document, teach, and inform about sources and publications regarding Hungarian self-awareness. Several national branches of science (history, literary studies, linguistics, ethnography, etc.) use the results of this exploratory work.
Hungarica research was first organized by Hungarian archives and libraries, then by Hungarian institutes located abroad. The Hungarica Committee established in 1964 set the theoretical foundations and practice of Hungarica research.
A magyar irodalomtörténet bibliográfiája (The Bibliography of Hungarian Literary History) 1–10 has been prepared with these principles in mind, published in a book format in the Institute for Literary Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences between 1972 and 2013. From 2013 it is published in a database.
Thus, in line with the fundamental principles of Hungarica research, books and periodicals are collected for the bibliography that contain data of value to literary history that is relevant to
- the literature of Hungary,
- the connections of Hungarian writers and poets with foreign literature,
- the views and activities of foreign writers and poets concerning the people (and organizations) living/working in Hungary or the territories once occupied by Hungary (e.g. travel writing),
- the literary activities of significant persons living abroad who are of Hungarian origin, and finally
- data on Hungarian groups of people living abroad in the past or the present day.
For further information:
Gedeon BORSA. “A régi, szerzői hungarika nyomtatványok bibliografikája (Bibliography of old authorial hungarica prints)”. Magyar könyvszemle 3–4. sz. (1978): 303–313. http://mek.oszk.hu/03300/03301/html/bgkvti_4/bgki0408.htm
István FAZEKAS. “Mi a hungarika? A magyar vonatkozású levéltári iratok, különös tekintettel a hajdani Monarchiára (What is hungarica? Archival documents of Hungarian relevance, with particular emphasis on the one-time Monarchy)”. Levéltári szemle 63, 3. sz. (2013): 5–14. https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/LeveltariSzemle_63_2013/?pg=202&layout=s
http://mnl.gov.hu/docstore/2903_MNL_Hungarika_strategi%C3%A1ja_2015_01_28.PDF
http://vilagtalalkozo.oszk.hu/sites/vilagtalalkozo.oszk.hu/files/dok110.pdf
http://www.oszk.hu/hungarikakutatas
Special projects
Scholarships and grants
May 2017– May 2018
Creative grant (NKA 201102/02891) preparing the manuscript of the short monograph “A visszatapsolt Reviczky Gyula (The encore of Gyula Reviczky)”.
From July 2019
Participation in the work of The Political Economy of Hungarian Literature Lendület (Momentum) research group of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
From September 2019
NKA 201108 sub-topic: Organizing high-quality, tradition-setting educational events, as well as continuing events with a tradition of several years in popular science and environmental design, as well as organizing camps, festivals, conferences, and conventions.
Name and topic of the grant: Irodalmi Pulszky-estek: Az irodalom sikertémái – na és az adatok (Literary Pulszky evenings: bestselling topics in literature - and the data). Series of discussions and round tables.
grant for young researchers, from 1 September, 2017
Recipient of the research grant “Digitális adatkezelési technológiák alkalmazása az irodalomtudomány bibliográfiai és textológiai munkájában (The use of digital data management technologies in the bibliography and textology work of literary studies)”.
Field of research and topic of PhD dissertation: collection of sources for the critical analysis of Dezső Kosztolányi’s oeuvre, and certain aspects of his oeuvre, more broadly: twentieth-century fiction, concepts of genre history, and intersections of genre.
July 2013 – August 2018
Participation in the OTKA/NKFIH 108700 grant “Kritikai kiadás és forrásföltárás: Kosztolányi Dezső (Critical edition and source exploration: Dezső Kosztolányi)”.
grant for young researchers, from 1 September, 2019
Recipient of the research grant “Digitális adatkezelési technológiák alkalmazása az irodalomtudomány bibliográfiai és textológiai munkájában (The use of digital data management technologies in the bibliography and textology work of literary studies)”.
grant for young researchers, from 1 September, 2018
Recipient of the research grant “Digitális adatkezelési technológiák alkalmazása az irodalomtudomány bibliográfiai és textológiai munkájában (The use of digital data management technologies in the bibliography and textology work of literary studies)”.
Wrote her dissertation on the topic of seventeenth-century Hungarian composition of volumes of poetry. Beside researching Renaissance and Baroque poetry, she also participates in digital humanities and computer-based philological projects.
From May 2018
Participation in the OTKA 119355 grant “Pray-kódex. Hálózati és nyomtatott kritikai kiadás (Pray codex. Online and printed critical edition)”.
From July 2019
Participation in the work of The Political Economy of Hungarian Literature Lendület (Momentum) research group of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
grant for young researchers, from 1 September, 2017
Her research focuses on the multicentered nature of nineteenth-century Hungarian and Transylvanian cultural space, the development and existence of alternative literary canons and cultural centres, as well as the analysis of the related regional identities and narrative constructs. Her current research topic, and also the focus of her dissertation under preparation, is the history of the Kolozsvár theatre at the end of the nineteenth century. She is also working on a microhistorical analysis of the 1892 centennial of professional theatre in Transylvania, and a larger-scale analysis of social history on the administrative and economic models of the institution, and its place in the Hungarian theatre network.
From July 2019
Participation in the work of The Political Economy of Hungarian Literature Lendület (Momentum) research group of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
October 2016– September 2019
Postdoctoral fellow (NKFIH 120947), research topic: French–Hungarian literary relations in the twentieth century.
