In the Footsteps of Orpheus
The Life and Times of Miklos Radnoti
Zsuzsanna Ozsvath
A powerful account of the life, art, and tragic death of a 20th-century Hungarian Jewish poet.
"Zsuzsanna Ozsvath bring s] forth Radnoti s life, his thought, and his passion with a depth of insight that is rare in a scholar. Brilliant, penetrating, and passionate, Ozsvath s book sets a new standard of excellence in Holocaust studies. It is a must for anyone who would approach the dark flame that burns at the core of the Event." David Patterson, University of Memphis
Miklos Radnoti, a young Hungarian Jewish poet, was shot by Hungarian soldiers guarding him while on a forced march from Yugoslavia back to Hungary during the final days of World War II. When his body was discovered and exhumed nearly two years later, a small book of poems was found in his coat pocket. These poems, together with the rest of Radnoti s work, solidified his reputation as one of Hungary s greatest poets. Radnoti shared the experience of many Jewish artists and intellectuals in Central Europe during the early part of the 20th century, but his poetry brings out a particular and personal view of the Holocaust in Hungary. His work plays a unique role in the history of Central European culture as some of the most beautiful poems ever written in Hungarian, as a voice against the rise of totalitarianism, and as testimony to the destruction of Europe s Jews. Zsuzsanna Ozsvath places Radnoti within the context of the political and intellectual history of interwar Hungary, situating him as an artist who is both a Jew and a Hungarian patriot. Her sensitive translations from the Hungarian lend poignancy to this tragic and forcefully told story. This account of Radnoti s life and work explores the sources of the poet s inspiration and imagery and restores it to its extreme times and places.
Zsuzsanna Ozsvath is Professor of Literature and the History of Ideas at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she is also Director of the Holocaust Studies Program. She is coeditor and cotranslator (with Frederick Turner) of Foamy Sky: The Major Poems of Miklos Radnoti and Attila Jozsef s The Iron-Blue Vault: Selected Poetry.
Jewish Literature and Culture Alvin H. Rosenfeld, editor
Contents
Myth and Consciousness
Poetic Images: Socialist Art and Political Commitment
The Pull of Contraries: Making of the Past
Visions of Destruction, Lyrics of Resistance
In Extremis: 1944"