Abstract
This paper presents Gergely Péterfy’s Stuffed Barbarian [Kitömött Barbár, 2014] in the context of eighteenth-century, pre-Revolutionary debates on slavery and the related question of the “human.” It investigates the ethical and political stakes of Péterfy’s narrative technique and argues that the improbably omniscient, third person character narration used throughout the novel performs the universalist and exclusive ideology Bildung of the European Enlightenment, which Péterfy mourns.
Highlights
This paper presents Gergely Péterfy’s Stuffed Barbarian [Kitömött Barbár, 2014] in the context of eighteenth-century, pre-Revolutionary debates on slavery and the related question of the “human.” It investigates the ethical and political stakes of Péterfy’s narrative technique and argues that the improbably omniscient, third person character narration used throughout the novel performs the universalist and exclusive ideology Bildung of the European Enlightenment, which Péterfy mourns
The novel is summarized in English on Péterfy’s homepage as follows: The book focuses on the most enigmatic and outlandish aspect of the poet’s life: his close friendship with Angelo Soliman, a renowned scholar and high-society figure in 18th century Vienna, who was brought to Europe as a slave and managed, through his learning, to become the Grand Master of the Masonic lodge, and a personal friend to Mozart and Emperor Joseph II
The story of this friendship and of those hectic, transformative years is narrated by Sophie Török, Kazinczy’s wife in a truly memorably and iconic location: the attic of the Viennese Imperial Natural History Collection, among the damaged and discarded exhibition items, facing the stuffed figure of the late Angelo Soliman
Summary
This paper presents Gergely Péterfy’s Stuffed Barbarian [Kitömött Barbár, 2014] in the context of eighteenth-century, pre-Revolutionary debates on slavery and the related question of the “human.” It investigates the ethical and political stakes of Péterfy’s narrative technique and argues that the improbably omniscient, third person character narration used throughout the novel performs the universalist and exclusive ideology Bildung of the European Enlightenment, which Péterfy mourns.
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