A megértés metaforái

Kép és pecsét az elmében

Absztrakt

This study examines the roots of modern literature’s emergence in 18th-century Hungarianspeaking territories through the evolving concept of fiction. The author argues that fiction, in its contemporary sense, did not exist previously, and substantiates this claim by employing
a rhetorical-historical and epistemological approach. According to Stefan Trappen, modern literature, by virtue of the concept of fiction, frees itself from its tether to reality, thereby distinguishing fictionality from the true/false dichotomy. Over time, the argumentum gradually faded from the triad of historia, fabula, and argumentum. István Bartók and István Vadai suggest that fabula functioned as a tool, a source of exemplum, reinforcing the truth of historia. In contrast, within the older system, argumentum would have represented fiction. In the epistemological section, a preface to a 1777 Aesop collection discusses the concepts of veritas logica and falsitas logica. It explains the utility of “untrue speech” (falsiloquium) by referencing Plato. As long as thoughts were considered perfect images and the aim was to evoke an effect, fiction in the modern sense did not exist. Before the 18th-century paradigm shift, certain knowledge only allowed for the unequivocal separation of truth and falsehood.