From Ideology to Nostalgia: Excursions with Arthur Koestler and Sándor Márai

The Hungarian literary tradition teems with a myriad of works that can contribute significantly to our political knowledge. Politics and literature as an interdisciplinary focus pays little attention to the works of Hungarian authors. Based on this perception, From Ideology to Nostalgia: Excursions with Arthur Koestler and Sándor Márai intends to show that specific novels written by Hungarian authors have significant value from the perspective of political theory. Miklós Bálint Tóth examines works which provide a thorough understanding of problems related to the notion of political order. In three case studies, Tóth analyzes Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon, Sándor Márai’s Ítélet Canudosban (Judgement in Canudos), and another novel by Márai’s Szindbád hazamegy (Szindbád Goes Home), focusing on political phenomena such as ideological thought, the dynamics between order and rebellion, and nostalgia.

Miklós Bálint Tóth is political scientist and research fellow of the School of Social Sciences and History at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Hungary.