2014-05-29

Mór Jókai en Esperanto and in English

Mór Jókai (1825-1904) estis eminenta hungara verkisto, konata kiel “romantika fabelisto.” Miareteje troveblas pluraj eroj el speciala numero de Hungara Vivo:

Mór Jókai” de Zsuzsa Varga-Haszonits (kun enhavtabelo) el Hungara Vivo, XV, jaro 1975, 4-a numero, p. 1.

Kiun el la Sep” de Mór Jókai estas ero en Hungara Antologio (1933).

Mondlingvo de Mór Jókai” temas pri la interlingvistikaj kaj futurismaj ideoj en ties Romano de la Venonta Jarcento (A jövő század regénye, 1872). Bedaŭrinde, mankas traduko de la romano en Esperanto kaj en la angla.

Alireteje troveblas pluaj informoj pri Mór Jókai:



. . . kaj kelkaj pluaj verkoj en Esperantaj tradukoj:

La du salikoj de Nagyenyed de Mór Jókai, tradukis Jozefo Horváth

La nova bienulo (Az új földesúr Eszperantó nyelven) de Mór Jókai



Mór Jókai (1825-1904) was an eminent Hungarian writer described as an exemplar of Romanticism.  Several of his works have been translated into English and some can be found online:

Mór Jókai (1825-1904) | The Online Books Page

Jókai, Mór, 1825-1904: Project Gutenberg

Jokai, Mor is featured also in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, with links.

I am most interested in his futuristic work The Novel of the Next Century (a.k.a. A Novel of the Coming Century; A jövő század regénye, 1872). Apparently this has never been translated into English. However, there is the following:

JÓKAI Mór: The Novel of Next Century (1872 - 1874): Foreword

The Novel of Next Century
(Translated excerpts and chapter by chapter notes on Jókai Mór's early Science Fiction novel)

I learned about Mór Jókai and this novel in particular thanks to Esperanto. Hungary was in effect the cultural capital of the Esperanto movement for the greater part of the 20th century. The Hungarian Esperanto movement enjoyed the favorable disposition and even support of a number of important modern Hungarian writers. Hungarian Esperantists also translated a substantial body of Hungarian literature into Esperanto, including a few works by Mór Jókai, but not this novel. 

The Hungarian contribution to literary futuristic and utopian/dystopian projections is virtually unknown in the English speaking world. Have you ever heard of Mór Jókai, or of Imre Madách's landmark The Tragedy of Man (1861), or of Frigyes Karinthy's Voyage to Faremido (1916) or  Capillaria (1921), or of Sándor Szathmári's Voyage to Kazohinia (1935, 1941, 1958) written in Hungarian and Esperanto? I learned of all of these via Esperanto. I mentioned the Hungarian contribution in my recent podcast (the topic of my previous blog post): 5/6/14 Science Fiction, Utopia, and the End of Imagination (1)  (57:57 min.).

See also the bibliography and web guide on my web site:

Futurology, Science Fiction, Utopia, and Alienation in the Work of Imre Madách, György Lukács, and Other Hungarian Writers: Select Bibliography

Science Fiction & Utopia Research Resources: A Selective Work in Progress 

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