Utopia in East Central Europe: The Hungarian Scene

The chapter discusses the reception of Thomas More’s work in Hungary from the sixteenth century until the 1990s, by analysing its influence and offering an overview of Hungarian utopian literature. The relationship between More and the region is also touched upon, a relationship that culminated in A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, whose frame narrative takes place in Hungary. Both Utopia and its author’s personality exerted significant influence in Central Europe, particularly during the religious debates in the early modern period. Protestants pointed out the religious tolerance in Utopia, while Catholics often refer to the perseverance of its author. The first Hungarian translation of Utopia appeared as late as 1910, followed by three others. The comparative analyses of these translations reveal the dual reception pattern of More’s book in Hungary either as an imaginative piece of Renaissance entertainment or as a treatise in social philosophy.