AZ ORSZÁGOS SZÉCHÉNYI KÖNYVTÁR ÉVKÖNYVE 1958. Budapest (1959)

II. A könyvtári munka módszertani kérdéseiről - Hankiss Elemér: A Hamlet-élmény elemzése (Kísérlet az irodalom társadalmi hatásának mérésére)

— Az emberi sors kompromisszumok sorozatából áll. Ebbe bele kell törődnünk. r+ s — &j — Aki átlépi az erkölcs határait, annak bűnhődnie kell . . . [-j~ 7 — 4] — Az élet mindennél többet ér, nem szabad elvont ideálokért feláldozni. [+6 — 7] — Nem szabad az élet ismeretlen mélységeit megbolygatni . . [+ 2 — 7J — Az ember önmagában erőtlen. Rá kell bíznia sorsát nagyobb hatalmakra. r+ 2 — 9] — Nem az igazság és a számonkérés a fontos, hanem a szeretet. [+4 — 10] — Az élet reménytelen és fájdalmas; egyetlen megoldás a rezignáció. [+ 2 - U] — Mindig a gonosz, a rossz győz ezen a világon. Hiába minden. [-{- 2 — 19] — Régmúlt, sötét korszak áldozata Hamlet. Ma már túl vagyunk az ilyesmin. [+ 6 — 20] The Hamlet-experience An attempt at measuring the impact of the tragedy ELEMÉR HANKISS Literary works are not lifeless mirrors reflecting social or psychological conditions, but are also sources of energy that are transforming and shaping man and society. There are few literary historians to disagree with this statement, but there are still fewer among them who have tried to define the exact character and content of this effect. The author's intention has been to search for some new possibilities and to elaborate some new methods of gauging literary impact. With this end in view, he chose Shakespeare's Hamlet tragedy for the object of his investigations and studying the history of the HamZet-experience, he endeavoured to state the effect produced by this tragedy on the subsequent ages and different societies. Having reached the 20th century, his own age, he found it useful to contact Shakespeare's audience directly, i. e. not only through the medium of Shakespeare-criticism, but also by the help of questionnaires filled in by theatre-going people. In his paper, he gives account of the first experimental poll performed among aits students of three Hungarian Universities. The number of question-forms duly filled in being only 59, he keeps away from drawing sweeping conclusions concerning the HaroZei-experience of our days and limits himself to determine the best means and methods of evaluating and systematizing the material which, as a result of further polls, will stream in — so he hopes — in considerable quantities. He states that the questionnaires may reveal the follow

ring aspects of the tragic impact and experience: a) Intensity. He lists up psychological amd social factors that may influence the intensity of the impact and describes the procedure of gauging the intensity. b) Positive or negative nature of the impact. He calls the tragic impact positive or negative according to its being stimulating or depressing: it is positive if it enhances the vital dynamism of people and negative in the opposite case. He states that tragic experience is not a static phenomenon but is a struggle between tragic impact and human mind. He sketches out some typical cases of this struggle. c) The trend and content of the tragic impact. Here he tries to demonstrate that a thorough analysis of the question-forms will reveal the exact content of 181