A long-standing question, involving constant challenge, pain and rarely pleasure, can be formulated in this way: "How can Hungarian literature, and especially poetry, break the barriers that separate it from Western European and world literature, of which the language barrier is but one?" Among the essential issues of this isolation is whether ideal translation could break the quarantine, or whether
the poetic specifics, rooted in the Hun garian language, are primarily the reason why even today, with translations appearing constantly, there is not a single Hungarian poet who is well known and
acknowledged in Western Europe. Or is there another, equally important dividing factor beside linguistic isolation (the problem of translation applies to all the other languages)--a factor which separates Central-European thinking so deeply from Western European thinking, that words, no matter how accurately rendered, gain new meanings?
I am almost certain that a substantial intellectual division exists between West ern Europe and Central Europe, with some communication between them working only in one direction, unfortunately. The Central European countries are primarily recipients, even though in occasional
and individual instances, certain Central European regions break down these walls, and do so not by adapting the Western patterns, but by virtue of their unique character. The Czech writer Hrabal is just one example. As far as Hungarian literature, and most notably its fiction, is concerned, however, even works which were justifiably expected to be successful, especially in France (Kosztolányi, Ottlik, the young Márai, who wrote his novel, Zendülõk (Rebels) not long after the publication of Les enfants terribles, a novel of similar theme but of less depth), continued to remain in quarantine even when translated. By contrast, in German-speaking countries a number of modern and con temporary Hungarian writers (Péter Esterházy, Imre Kertész, Péter Nádas, et al.) have come to enjoy genuine popularity in the past twenty years or so, for reasons well understood but not to be discussed on the present occasion. Poetry, which is a treasured part of Hungarian literature, shows an even more depressing picture. Classical Hungarian poetry never became as popular in the West as Western poetry here, and the situation is not much better regarding modern poetry. Kassák is said to be genuinely popular in France; and the publication in recent years of volumes of poems in English by a number of contemporary Hungarian poets--Weöres, Pilinszky, Juhász, Nemes-Nagy, Orbán, Petri, Rakovszky --has been met with acclaim from their peers. Eventually into these ranks may come Miklós Radnóti, who now has various translations published, and Attila József, whose growing number of poems are now available in English, and which might, at long last, make his name known.

Perhaps. But far from certain. Because, while entire oeuvres of Western poets have been translated into Hungarian, becoming integral elements in Hungarian poetry, it is unlikely that any poem translated from Hungarian would ever become as important for English or French readers (or God forbid, poets), as T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Apollinaire or Rilke are for us (to mention only a few modern examples). I do believe that, due to the freshness, the quality and the high standing of translations, even those Hungarian readers who do not speak a foreign language may feel part of the European culture. Yet this interaction is a typically one-way process. While a Hungarian atmosphere may be lost in translation into any Western language, we, on the other hand, are able to receive a picture of the atmosphere there through our reading of the classic authors of Western literature.
It is quite probable that we can have a feel for the traditions of Western literature, since we Hungarians know much about life, history, society and the milieu there, much more than any Western reader knows about our circumstances. For this reason, Western readers see the works translated from Hungarian more as a curiosity, and the problems of social and cultural development discussed in these works, while exciting questions for us, remain incomprehensible to them.
Therefore, it is imperative that the translations be complemented with fundamental studies and critical essays on Hungarian literature. It is an important development that just when Attila József's poems are coming out in ever more translations, and genuinely good ones among them, a biography has also been published. Given its author's familiarity with both cultures, there are grounds to believe that he will be able to acquaint Western readers with the poet's personality, his life story and circumstances, and the specific sociological, cultural and socio-cultural conditions of Hungary in the first third of the twentieth century.

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