Enikő Polyák

Enikő Polyák is a PhD student in the Doctoral School of Literary Studies, PhD Program in Hungarian and Comparative Literature at the University of Debrecen. Research topic: László Németh’s novels in the context of gender and affection studies.

In my research at iASK, I am studying Ágota Kristóf’s works, mostly her novels (The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie and Yesterday). Throughout my research, I attempt to analyze her aforementioned literary works with the application of the theoretical framework of affection studies. One of the main foci of my research is the analysis of different representations of negative aspects of affections such as disgust, shame or fear that is carried out within the context of scenographic analysis. Moreover, I investigate the possibility of a comparative analysis between her works and the novels of Samuel Beckett, primarily his Trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable). The foundation of this comparative examination is not only the fact that both of the writers had used a different literary language as their mother’s tongue, but also the structural, metaphorical similarities of their novels as they are lacking the exact signs of time and place, and also due to the similarities between their literary language.