Studies & Degrees in Hungarian Language and Literature (in Universities)

Choose where you would like to study Hungarian Language and Literature (in Universities):

The Hungarian language is a part of the Ugric group of languages which also includes the Khanty language and the Mansi language. This means that, in contrast to most of the other languages spoken in neighboring countries, the Hungarian language is not an Indo-European language. It does however, have some “loan” words that it has acquired over the years from different Indo-European languages.

Among all of the languages in Europe that are not of Indo-European descent, the Hungarian language is the most widely spoken. There are approximately more than 13 million people in the world who are native speakers of this language and there are still those that are not necessarily native speakers but speak and study the Hungarian language just the same. Hungarian is of course the official language of Hungary which is located in central Europe.

Hungarian Literature on the other hand has come to gain renown only in the 20th century because of the accomplished works of Hungarian literary writers such as Imre Kertész, Antal Szerb, Sándor Márai, and Magda Szabó. Before this time, Hungarian literature was virtually an unknown subject in the Anglosphere which includes the United States and the United Kingdom.

Imre Kertész is the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature for his writing that was described as something that defends an individual and his fragile experience against a history that is both “barbaric” and “arbitrary”. Antal Szerb for his part published the authoritative book “A History of World Literature” in 1941. He also published a more localized version which was about the History of Hungarian Literature. His final work was “Oliver VII” which was published in 1942. He died in a concentration camp in 1945. Sándor Márai was hugely considered as one of the more significant representatives of Hungarian middle class literature. He authored a total of 46 books, most of which were novels. Magda Szabó is arguably the best woman novelist from Hungary although she also wrote other forms of literature such as poetry, essays, dramas, and studies. Her works and novels have been published and distributed in over 42 countries.

Hungarian can be studied from a beginner level to an advanced level usually in a 4 year course. This course usually involves options to take additional Hungarian based courses such as social sciences, history, and cinema even when the foremost subject of the course is Hungarian language and literature. After studying and completing a course on Hungarian language and literature, one can expect to have gained exceptional communication skills in the Hungarian language and a profound understanding, awareness, and familiarity with Hungarian literature. These will prove invaluable in starting any of the many careers that are available for people armed with this knowledge.

Expertise in Hungarian language and literature opens many opportunities in Europe and in countries where Hungarian is spoken. Additionally, there are a lot of universities and learning institutions that have a need for foreign language and foreign literature professionals. Translators, who are responsible not just for direct translation but also for interpretation of text and oral information, are also much sought after.