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which symbolize the already forgotten land of ancestors.
Multiculturalism is also determined by the allusion of Štúrovo-
Szob border.
Another bilingual poetry collection by Alexaner Kormoš was
published in 1985 with a title “Okrídľovanie kosou” (Engl.
Spinning Scythe). In this collection of poems the author also
highlighted the emblematic motif of a miraculous bird that is a
symbol of survival – survival of individual, nation, nationality
and humanity. Even the edition Dunaj itself demonstrates
multiculturalism, not to mention the thematic stratification of the
poetry collection. The lyrical subject relies on a bond and asks
people for help.
He is an oxymoronic prisoner of freedom, as
well as a conscience of his own nationality. A symbol of “fresh
spring” appears again, which gives hope for the future. The poet
must remain in a strong central position on both sides of the river
Danube. He is a personified witness of the past and present of
his homeland; the lyrical subject is his faithful child. The present
is described critically, as harmony between people, nations and
nationalities gradually dissipates.
Hard fate is like a rock in Pilíš.
The customs and traditions are confronted from Tatras to
Danube in direction to Lowland.
The poet is helped by the
multicultural environment, time and indestructible love. Times
are hard, a man thirsty, words silent. The poet as an eternal
hunter, gardener and wanderer has to preserve the language and
emphasize the state of the language in his verses. The poet has to
remain vigilant against the omnipresent world-wide disease and
protect harmoniousness. Language is a unique and unrepeatable
miracle that encompasses the whole world. Of course, he is
aware of the phenomenon of dying words in a new millennium;
he blames the attributes of present for changes in the language.
In 1997, an interesting collection of aphorisms by Alexander
Kormoš was published under the title Aforizmy a iné
stručnoslovia (Engl. Aphorisms and other Shortcomings). It
contains short sentences in both Slovak and Hungarian
languages; most often it is a Slovak variant and a Hungarian
invariant. These occasionally reflect cynicism. In opposition to
atheism (socialism) stands the belief (democracy). In these
development phases, the individual as a social being has to find
his personality. The importance of native language is
emphasized, as well as the fear of denationalization and cultural
genocide of one’s own national minority as the biggest
uncivilized act of the modern civilization. From the perspective
of multiculturalism, a common homeland is created with the
same interests, going ahead with development of the civilization.
The centre point of this world is the human being, but the basic
vector is the omnipotent God.
An interesting publication by Alexander Kormoš considering the
genre of the book is Rozdúchať stlmený plameň (Engl. Blow the
Dimmed Flame, 2003). It contains 80 sonnets both in Slovak and
Hungarian language. Particularly interesting is the sonnet crown,
which includes translations from Hungarian literature into
Slovak. (3 sonnets; László Nagy, György Faludy), translations
from Slovak literature into Hungarian (7 sonnets; Vojtech
Kondrót, Marián Kováčik, Viliam Turčány, Štefan Strážay) and
translation of a sonnet from a Lowland Slovak author into
Hungarian (Pavol Samuel). The system of symbols forms
a unified coherent system in the background of declared
symmetrical bilingualism. The reflexive reader is offered
a possibility to be confronted with the artistic talent, because
sonnet is a special form of poetry that requires talent from the
author to formulate his ideas with high intensity. Testimonies by
the poet create a tension between words and reality. The “flame
of the language“ is a symbol of poetic utterance in opposition to
silence. It emphasizes the importance of homeland in the era of
terrible present.
Until the present, the last independent collection of poems by
Alexander Kormoš was published under the title Večne živý
prameň (Engl. The Eternal Source, 2016). The author
thematically returns to Pilíš and its surrounding: he is a faithful
child of his homeland with “singing” (personified) Slovak
language. The lyrical subject has a fear that his nationality might
soon disappear from the map of Europe. He emphasizes mutual
understanding, a kind of “Kormoš polyphony” of cooperation
and co-existence. Important is the inhesion that is symbolized by
Pilíš mountains as an eternal homeland of Slovaks in that region.
It is necessary to talk and avoid silence, shout or sing beautiful
Slovak songs. The lyrical subject is afraid of them, as they are
lost in the new millenium. He is deeply embedded in words.
Apart from the native language, the crying soul is protected by
the typical guitar sound of Kormoš that overcomes sadness, fear
and misery. The aim is to see the silver lining – own words of
the nation. The author often idealizes his thoughts: Is really
language the queen of queens?
This publication also includes the
author‘s cycle of translations from literature of other nations
with an emblematic title “Mostom dúhy” (Engl. Bridge Over the
Rainbow). This part of the work contains translations of poems
into Slovak (pars pro toto) not only by Endre Ady, Attila József,
György Faludy, but also the poems by Gábor Hattinger-
Klebaško, Imrich Fuhl, Josip Gujaš-Džuretin, Gennadij Golovat,
Vilmos Moldován and others. This fact also points to
multiculturalism and polyphony of testimony of friends, poets
and personalities. Regarding the Slovak-Hungarian cultural
context it is interesting to mention the poems of Vojtech Kondrót
about Ady, his translations of poems by László Nagy and
comparison to translations by Alexander Kormoš or Emil
Boleslav Lukáč, the poem of Mihály Filadelfi – Tatranská
Lomnica, and mainly the poems of Zoltán Polner about Gyula
Juhász and his work in Skalica.
5 Conclusion
The modern Slovak language is constantly evolving and is
characterized by motion in different interaction. As an
anthropocentric entity, the language is present in almost every
moment of our existence. However, the development of
language is not limited. It is used in the mentioned enclaves and
diasporas. It is not isolated, but remains in contact with other
languages (in discussed context it is the Hungarian language).
Therefore, the clear development concept of Slovak language as
a state language seems to be limited. For this reason, the
pluricentric understanding of the language is justified. The
pluricentric concept of the Slovak language involves the
language used in literature as well.
There is no need for many
linguistic sings (primarily we think about the poetic, specific
language of the Slovak poetry in Hungary, which serves a
typical example) to constitute the variety of the language, and we
do not even interpret is as a meta-language. To create a special
group and language identity, the social and symbolic function of
the language is essential. We have emphasized it with our basic
approach to concrete (poetic) text.
If we apply these findings creatively, we can conclude that
Alexander Kormoš has been an integral part of the cultural
milieu of the Slovak minority literature in Hungary for 45 years.
His poetry “…is characterized by constant analysis of the
relationship between power and truth, and most of his poems are
filled with melancholy“ (Anonymous, 2008, p. 3). The era and
regimes are changing, but the words of the poet are constant. The
poetic language of Alexander Kormoš is relentless, but fights for
a better world. By the analysis and interpretation of his poems
and work, we can come to a conclusion that also in a minority
environment the aspects of pluricentrism of the Slovak language
can be identified in contact with the Hungarian language. It is a
special phenomenon, a kind of symbol of mutual co-existence of
two nations or nationalities. This created a bridge of
understanding and cooperation also in Central Europe. It
demonstrated how diversity of language/languages is applied on
multicultural basis.
Literature:
1.
Andričík, M.: Preklad pod lupou. Levoča: Modrý Peter, 2013.
156 p. ISBN 978-80-89545-22-3.
2. Andruška, P.:
Súčasní slovenskí spisovatelia z Maďarska.
Nitra: Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre, 2008. 106 p.
ISBN 978-80-8094-429-2.
3. Anonymous
: „... múdry Dunaj všetko zriadi...“ Deň poézie
v
Číve s Alexandrom Kormošom. In: Ľudové noviny. 2008, vol.
16, 3 p. ISSN 0456-829X.
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