Imagery in Central European Catholic Literatures: A Comparative Analysis

A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The aim of the study is to call the attention, in an interpretative and comparative way, to the cultural and literary context of the formation of Slovak, Czech and Hungarian Catholic literature in the 20ᵗh century. This is mainly because Christianity in its two main forms – Catholicism and Protestantism, has been determining both past and current identity of Europe. As Martin C. Putna states, Catholic literature exists, and it is not only an aesthetic phenomenon, but mainly literary-historical and literary-sociological. It was created during the 19ᵗh century (in different countries, at different times and in its various forms) as a result of secularization as a literature of the Catholic milieu and is from the principle of literature “oppositional” and polemical. And since the Central European Catholic literatures started being significantly enriched by Western European literary and cultural trends in the early 20ᵗh century and, on the contrary, it also implemented its literary and cultural wealth in the cultures of other nationalities and ethnics, it is important to emphasize the inculturation element of the Catholic ideological system, in order to pass on some aspect of the Christian world-view to adequate artistic expression in an environment of modern world, since talented clerics and lay artists have succeeded due to their remarkable artistic achievements.