“AM I A SERBIAN WRITER?”

Mihály Babits and the question of national identity

Abstract

The fact that Mihály Babits knew himself to be a descendant of Hungarian county nobles, despite the South Slavic sound of his surname, was the defining basis of his identity. He was greatly influenced by his father, a lawyer who died at an early age, from whom he inherited not only his classical erudition but also his liberal social outlook. From the poet’s correspondence, it is known that when he was still a student, he was confronted with the question of his family’s South Slavic origins. After 1920 this became one of the possible tools of attacks on his person, but there were also examples of bona fide “accusations”, to which Babits responded in writing. In my article, in addition to summarizing the known data on the family’s origins and interpreting Babits’ statements on his own national identity, I want to shed light on how this aspect of his self-understanding as a writer also determined his approach to literature.