BÁNK BÁN AND THE QUESTION OF THE LEGEND ON BÁN MIC

Abstract

The classic dramatic work in Hungarian literature, Bán Bánk (Viceroy Bánk) by József Katona is closely linked to a vast opus of historical-poetic, monographic, archival and folklore research. Its significance and complex structure of meanings is affirmed by the fact that after nearly two centuries the emerging dilemmas are still topical; issues still relevant to its conception, which have not yet fully been answered, can recurrently be asked; and the gaps in its comprehension can also be explored.

This study deals with the analysis of Katona’s quoted drama, more precisely with the episode on Bán Mic’s (Viceroy Mic) legend, with which the literary reception has been engaged only in rough lines, and which has, for dramaturgic reasons, been qualified as the author’s wrong move. The analy­sis encompasses aspects of several related disciplines, in addition to literary-historical and cultural-anthropological ones. The aim of the discussion is by no means to resolve fundamental problems re­lated to this drama, but its intention is to develop – through interdisciplinary approach – the under­standing of certain elements of this work (e.g. the function of including the scene on Bán Mic, the historical credibility of the story of Bán Simon’s septuplets, the symbolism of number seven, etc.)