Nemzeti nagylét, nagy temető és – Batsányi

Abstract

The narrative based on the images of „national grandeur” and „the great graveyard”, recurring in the writings of Batsányi and his contemporaries, is an imperative of inner unity in the face of „dissension,” a notion that used to stand for faction. Also, it is inseparable from memory becoming self-reflective. The concept of „dissension” can be actually dated back a long time ago; for example Mohács was considered a result of „dissension” within this tradition, even though the word itself mainly meant religious division at that time. However, in the public sphere evolving at around the end of the 18th century, these interpretations do not seem to be detectable anymore, at least there are no marked lines of continuity between publicity and the above mentioned interpretations. On the contrary, the elements of this narrative are not yet even solidified, and coexist with various other narratives. Furthermore, the ideologem based on the notion of dissension is in constant change, and thus calls attention to the potential of this historical moment for creating new cultural meanings. On the one hand, the turn of the 1780s and 1790s as an obscure period lead to the birth of this ideologem, while memory and the remembering subject came into the forefront on the other. As a result, the ideologem being formed was able to appear as a tangible cultural construction. This is how the national narrative we know as a timeless and ageless entity today emerged – also as a lieu de mémoire.