Kiket ismerhetett Gyöngyössi János?
The Analysis of the Social Network of a 18th Century Poet

The Case of János Gyöngyössi

Summary/Abstract: In the last decade in the literary history a new claim emerged about the work of János Gyöngyössi: to be viewed from the composition of the reading public, in the context of the supposed literary success. „The reformed priest from Torda mentions about 70 names just in the titles of his poems. This fact stresses that he was in good relation with a vast part of Hungarian notabilities of Transylvania.” (Ferenc Bíró, 1995) In my paper I intend to refine this thought, formulated only hypothetically. Discussing his autobiography from 1767, the argumentation of his poems, his correspondence – which was published in a straggling way in different reviews at the beginning of the 20th Century – his social network can be firmly outlined. This social network has different layers, which I intend to show up by grasping the relations of kin, the clerical partnerships, the acquaintances among the former student colleagues and the Hungarian nobles of Transylvania. This research has the goal of depicting the work of an 18th Century poet-priest from the perspective of the ordered lyrical products. In my hypothesis the poet’s social capital was turned into a financial gain.

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