Books by Károly Pintér
Religion and American Politics. Domestic and International Contexts, 2024
The book presents a broad international and interdisciplinary perspective on the role of religion... more The book presents a broad international and interdisciplinary perspective on the role of religion in American politics (both domestic and international). It is a result of cooperation between Jagiellonian University scholars and an international group of academics, including renowned American specialists, who study the intersection between religion and American politics. Coming not only from the USA, but also from Israel, Spain, Hungary, Poland and the Palestinian territories, the authors provide a unique international perspective on how the USA deals with issues on the intersection of religion and politics and how it is perceived around the world. The contributors are: Elad Ben David, Emily R. Gill, James L. Guth, Jajuan S. Johnson, Lyman A. Kellstedt, Sebastian Kubas, Michael McLaughlin, Husam Mohamad, Paulina Napierała, Brent F. Nelsen, Karoly Pinter, Cristobal Serran-Pagan y Fuentes, and Jerold Waltman.
The objective of the textbook is to provide a general survey of the contemporary United Kingdom, ... more The objective of the textbook is to provide a general survey of the contemporary United Kingdom, including its countries and regions, political, legand and educational institutions, and the fundamental features of its society. The book is divided into ten thematic chapters, in harmony with the usual length of Hungarian university courses. The comparative approach is consistently followed throughout the book: the British tradition, mentality and institutions are repeatedly compared to and contrasted with their Hungarian counterparts, to make it easier for Hungarian learners to understand unique aspects of British culture. Several other features such as a number of explanatory footnotes as well as the list of key concepts and the important vocabulary of the given topic are specifically designed to help Hungarian learners.
This study examines literary utopias primarily as complex narratives with contradictory and ambig... more This study examines literary utopias primarily as complex narratives with contradictory and ambiguous objectives: they are attempting to persuade the reader about the superior values of a fictitious alternative community while satirizing and criticizing the author's contemporary social reality and simultaneously signalling that this community is imaginary and non-existent. These centrifugal tensions are handled with a narrative strategy in the most sophisticated utopian narratives that I propose to call "narrative estrangement". This term is partly inspired by Darko Suvin's famous notion about science fiction as "cognitive estrangement", but focuses primarily on the complex impact of the story.
After a theoretical introduction, the book devotes separate chapters to Thomas More's Utopia (especially Book I), H. G. Wells's A Modern Utopia, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars.
Papers in English by Károly Pintér
Religion and American Politics: Domestic and International Contexts, 2024
In this chapter, I propose to examine the prospects of American civil religion in the 2020s after... more In this chapter, I propose to examine the prospects of American civil religion in the 2020s after its foundational notions have been subverted by Donald Trump as well as his allies and enablers. Can we still meaningfully talk about an American Creed that is accepted and adhered to on both sides of the political aisle and across a broad ideological spectrum? Or is the storming of the Capitol by a bunch of self-styled "patriots" the harbinger of a new era in American history in which even the idea of what constitutes patriotism, who stand for "the people, " and what the common principles and norms of the republic are will degenerate into tribal concepts? Are we on the brink of a major paradigm shift in the history of American civil religion?
Pázmány Papers, 2023
This article examines the independent movie Captain Fantastic (2016), reading it as a countercult... more This article examines the independent movie Captain Fantastic (2016), reading it as a countercultural utopia clashing with the larger utopia of mainstream American society.
The AnaChronisT, 2023
The book 1985 is the third and last dystopia in the oeuvre of Anthony Burgess. It can be consider... more The book 1985 is the third and last dystopia in the oeuvre of Anthony Burgess. It can be considered unique since it contains a string of non-fictional texts reflecting on Orwell’s classic as well as related philosophical, political, social, and theological issues, followed by a dystopian novella entitled “1985.” The essay argues that the book, but especially the essays, can be read as Burgess’s “cacotopian ars poetica,” or his last and most extensive statement on the genre.
Utopian Horizons: Ideology, Politics, Literature, 2017
The essay demonstrates the use of civil religion in an imagined global utopian community by exami... more The essay demonstrates the use of civil religion in an imagined global utopian community by examining its application in H. G. Wells's The Open Conspiracy (1968), perhaps the best-known summary of the so-called "Wellsian utopia".
Utopias and Dystopias in the Fiction of H. G. Wells and William Morris, 2016
The essay offers a new reading of H. G. Wells's classic early SF tale by focusing on the reliabil... more The essay offers a new reading of H. G. Wells's classic early SF tale by focusing on the reliability of the anonymous narrator. While most authors take the Time Traveller's observations and conclusions about the far future for granted, including his famous speculation that both the Eloi and the Morlocks are descendants of the ruling class and the working class of late 19th century Britain, the essay argues that the narrator is far from objective and scientific in his methods, displays an irrational hatred towards the Morlocks from the start, and therefore his wild and often unfounded conjectures about the future should be approached with caution and reservations. This uncertainty about the reality of the future is a deliberate narrative strategy of the author and detectable throughout the text.
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, 1996
The essay examines the dramatic structure of Samuel Beckett's theatrical pieces in three differen... more The essay examines the dramatic structure of Samuel Beckett's theatrical pieces in three different works chosen from different periods of his career, focusing on the peculiar Beckettian dual rhythm of repetitions and variations in Waiting for Godot, Play, and Rockaby.
Gábor Ittzés - András Kiséry (eds.): Elaborate Trifles: Studies for Kálmán G. Ruttkay on his 80th Birthday. Pázmány Péter Catholic University, 2002
The essay focuses on the complex strategies of how the narrator of Utopia, Raphael Hythloday is i... more The essay focuses on the complex strategies of how the narrator of Utopia, Raphael Hythloday is introduced in Thomas More's Utopia (1516), which simultaneously aim at establishing his credibility as a character while also subtly undermining his reliability as narrator.
P. Laidler - M. Turek (eds.). 2012 U.S. Presidential Election: Challenges and Expectations. Jagiellonian UP, 2014
The essay examines what role (if any) Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon reli... more The essay examines what role (if any) Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon religion may have played in his failure to win the 2012 US presidential election. On the whole, it seems that Evangelical Protestants, who tend to harbor strong negative prejudices against Mormons, were at best lukewarm about Romney's candidacy, yet the majority of them were willing to vote for him rather than Democratic candidate Barack Obama.
The Undying Fire, 2005
The essay offers a close reading of H. G. Wells's 1895 experimental narrative, A Modern Utopia, f... more The essay offers a close reading of H. G. Wells's 1895 experimental narrative, A Modern Utopia, focusing on the narrative ways Wells creates and sustains estrangement and reflects on the theoretical problems of imagining a literary utopia.
Americana: E-Journal of American Studies in Hungary, 2016
This review essay takes a close look at the history of the interpretations and debates over Rober... more This review essay takes a close look at the history of the interpretations and debates over Robert N. Bellah's famous concept of American civil religion, which he first introduced in a 1967 essay. The essay focuses mostly on the early history of the concept up to the late 1980s.
Donald Morse ed. Anatomy of Science Fiction. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2006
The essay offers a close reading of the narrative devices employed in Wells's only fully realized... more The essay offers a close reading of the narrative devices employed in Wells's only fully realized positive utopia.
Pázmáneum to Blindern: Contributions to Regional and Cultural Studies: Central Europe and Scandinavia (Piliscsaba: Pázmány Péter Catholic University), 2009
A somewhat idiosyncratic essay on Socialist book publishing, the history of SF in Socialist Hunga... more A somewhat idiosyncratic essay on Socialist book publishing, the history of SF in Socialist Hungary, and how a lonely volume of Norwegian SF was published in Hungary in the early 1970s.
The Anachronist, 1996
A short investigation of the narrative complexity of Book I of Thomas More's Utopia.
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, 2012
An analysis of The War of the World focusing on the the narrative presentation of the Martians as... more An analysis of The War of the World focusing on the the narrative presentation of the Martians as well as the interpretation of the invasion by various characters in the story.
The Anachronist, 2006
In my essay, a case study of civil religion, I propose to examine both the history and evolution ... more In my essay, a case study of civil religion, I propose to examine both the history and evolution of the Pledge of Allegiance and the ultimate decision of the Supreme Court in terms of its constitutionality, as well as the remarkable dissents, using the famous notion of Robert N. Bellah. The Pledge case reveals the controversial legal as well as public attitudes towards the role of religion in American public life, especially the growing gulf between the predominantly separationist interpretation of the Establishment Clause by the Court since World War II, on the one hand, and the continuing strong role of religion in American public life, on the other.
Peterecz-Szathmári-Tarnóc (eds.): Trends in American Culture in the Post-1960s Period: Proceedings of the 9th Biannual Conference of the Hungarian Association of American Studies. Eger: Líceum Kiadó, 2013
The essay focuses on the landmark separatist decisions of the US Supreme Court between 1948 and t... more The essay focuses on the landmark separatist decisions of the US Supreme Court between 1948 and the 1960s, during which the "separation of church and state" was fully established as a precedent derived from the Establishment Clause of the Bill of Rights.
Americana: E-Journal of American Studies in Hungary, 2011
The essay explores the potential impact of the popular TV show 24 and its featuring of fictitious... more The essay explores the potential impact of the popular TV show 24 and its featuring of fictitious African-American presidents on the successful presidential campaign of Barack Obama in 2008. It argues that the presentation of a morally upright and very impressive black presidential character in a widely watched show for several seasons may have paved the way for Obama’s acceptance among the majority white audience in the US.
Uploads
Books by Károly Pintér
After a theoretical introduction, the book devotes separate chapters to Thomas More's Utopia (especially Book I), H. G. Wells's A Modern Utopia, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars.
Papers in English by Károly Pintér
After a theoretical introduction, the book devotes separate chapters to Thomas More's Utopia (especially Book I), H. G. Wells's A Modern Utopia, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars.
Aktuális számunk szerzői:
Pintér Károly – egyetemi docens, PPKE BTK
Mándi Tibor – egyetemi docens, ELTE TÁTK
Stumpf István – volt alkotmánybíró, kutató professzor, NKE Amerika Tanulmányok Központ
Varga Gergely – programvezető, vezető kutató, KKI