Absztrakt

Drawing on a well-known distinction formulated by Hans-Robert Jauss, this paper approaches social history-informed studies in literary history as a provocation to literary studies. To this end, it reviews the traditions of Hungarian scholarship, while also noting the markedly different structuring of the field in German. It argues that this approach, which neither seeks nor has ever sought a hegemonic position, offers insights into the social uses of literature. Acknowledging the embeddedness of literature within cultural studies provides a useful, though in itself insufficient, foundation for this perspective, even as it is becoming increasingly widespread within the Hungarian institutional landscape. The study presents both arguments and examples to underscore the value of directing scholarly attention to the historical questions surrounding the production, publication, and distribution of literature. It concludes that this approach has by now yielded far more substantial results than would justify dismissing it as marginal. Yet, from the perspective of historiography, it is likely to receive sustained attention only from a (similarly marginal) segment of Hungarian scholars engaged in social-historical research.