657 KB70 KB197820252017Hites, Sándorštevilka:3letnik:40str. 87-113ISSN:0351-1189COBISSID_HOST:65875554URN:URN:NBN:SI:doc-HWZ0PP54enSlovensko društvo za primerjalno književnostPrimerjalna književnost"How to be an alien"angleška književnostEastern EuropeemigracijaemigrationEnglish literatureHungaryintelektualciintellectualsMadžarskaMikes, George, 1912-1987nacionalni stereotipinational stereotypessatirasatirestrangenesstujostVzhodna EvropaHow to be an alien| George Mikes's anthropology of emigration|The paper examines the best-selling satirical book How to Be an Alien (1946) by the Hungarian émigré journalist and prominent British humorist George Mikes (1912-1987). I argue that tackling the issues of emigration, integration and belonging, Mikes employs a mock-anthropological approach: ironically reworking the notions of observation and imitation as survival strategies, HTBA grasps the absurdities underlying both British life and the newcomer's struggle to blend in. The two sequels Mikes wrote to HTBA decades later demonstrate that once the "alien" has been successfully integrated, the sense of acquired Britishness only produces further absurdities. Examining HTBA and a selection of his other works, I also claim that Mikes's satire is an unacknowledged contribution to the modern philosophical tradition of "strangeness" (exemplified by authors ranging from G. Simmel to H. Arendt, Th. Adorno and Z. Bauman). Today, Mikes's legacy continues to inspire expatriates living in London and elsewhere. However, his emblematic work has also inspired a stream of books with diametrically opposite intentions: these encourage their native readers to regain their allegedly fading socio-cultural heritage. In the transformation of Mikes's satire about aliens adapting to new environments into an encouragement of natives to embrace their own, one can witness both the disintegration of traditional cultural belonging and a new appeal of indigeneityČlanek obravnava satirično uspešnico How to Be an Alien (1946), ki jo je napisal madžarski emigrantski novinar in prominenten britanski humorist George Mikes (1912-1987). Izkaže se, da Mikes pri obravnavi vprašanj emigracije, integracije in pripadanja uporabi karikiran antropološki pristop. S tem, ko ironično predela koncepte opazovanja in imitiranja (domorodcev) kot preživetvene strategije, imenitno opozori na absurdnost tako britanskega življenja kot tudi prizadevanj prišleka, da bi se stopil z okoljem. Nadaljevanji uspešnice, ki ju je Mikes napisal desetletja pozneje, razkrivata, da tudi ko je "tujec" enkrat uspešno integriran, občutek pridobljene britanskosti proizvaja le še nadaljnje absurdnosti. Podrobnejši pogled pokaže, da je Mikesevo satiro mogoče videti tudi kot doslej neopažen prispevek k moderni filozofski tradiciji "tujosti" (npr. pri avtorjih, kot so G. Simmel, H. Arendt, Th. Adorno in Z. Bauman). Mikeseva zapuščina še vedno navdihuje izseljence v Londonu, pa tudi drugje. Toda to emblematično delo je navdihnilo tudi vrsto knjig z diametralno nasprotnim namenom - namreč takšnih, ki opogumljajo (domače) bralce, naj se vnovič oprimejo dozdevno pešajoče socio-kulturne dediščine. V transformiranju Mikeseve satire o tujcih, ki se prilagajajo novemu okolju, v opogumljanje "domačinov", naj se vendar oklenejo lastne tradicije, se obenem zrcalita tako dezintegracija tradicionalne kulturne pripadnosti kot tudi nova privlačnost "domorodnosti"TEXTznanstveno časopisjejournalsSlovenian National E-content AggregatorNational and University Library of SloveniaSlovensko društvo za primerjalno književnost