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| Imre Kertész |
In the interview published on November 7, Kertész praised Berlin but said Budapest had been "Balkanized". Some Hungarian newspapers and websites responded sharply to the criticism, but Kertész said in another interview with Die Zeit published on November 10 that the dailies Nészabadság and Magyar Nemzet as well as the weekly 168 ORA were not true to the text of the interview when translating it from German to Hungarian.
"My wording 'Right extremists and anti-Semites have a say' became 'Right extremists and anti-Semites rule in Hungary'. Or they shortened my observation that 'the old vices of the Hungarians, their mendacity and their inclination for repression flourish as ever before' to 'Hungary is a land of liars'," Kertész said. "The translations sound more apodictic than I worded them," he added.
Kertész complained that "Hungarians are not familiar with irony - except for the educated ones" and explained that a tradition of national self-criticism, which has many examples in German literature, does not exist in Hungary. "Thomas Mann und Karl Krauss" - both of whom wrote books critical of Germany's national identity - "were once much read authors among the Hungarian middle classes. But the middle classes have been torn asunder. All that is left is humourless keepers of the National heritage that want to prohibit any criticism as 'fouling the nest'."
"One must not forget: I have a faithful public in Hungary, who understand my irony. But this public does not have these big internet platforms at their disposal," Kertész said.
Asked whether he would take more care when speaking on topics about which some Hungarians may be sensitive, Kertész said he would stick to his own style.
"I am no 80 years old. I have my own style that I will stand by. And I have the hope that people of good will will continue to understand. I must also live with the fact that there continue to be influential Hungarians who want to misunderstand and distort me."
Source: Die Welt / Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
