Descending to hell and unclouded optimism

The readers, who regarded the novel tiring, never felt their life hopeless, never lost trust in themselves. On the contrary, the readers, who often felt their life hopeless, often felt being good for nothing, used the following effect-elements: "made me fresh", "confirmed me", "made me touch", "made me act", referring to a deeper reception or a catharsis.

Unclouded optimism, self confidence, rational attitude was not efficient in the dialogue between the novel and its readers. Sense towards problems, seek­

ing the sense of life with varying success, conscious living of uncertainity suffering /forming people's sensitive/, descending to hell are efficient conditions from the point of view of the effect.

VI. E P I L O G

We could follow the reading and reception of a novel having no solution.

Readers can only meditate on it. It has no allegorical meaning can be noticed or not; can be understood or not; can be interpretated either this way or that way. However, it has an ethical subject can be discovered or faced with.

Readers can find their own novel in a such open type one. Our research proved;

they had found it in spite of having no archeotype of this novel. The readers, either approaching it as a love romance, a historical novel, a social picture or a moral allegory, could see something from the whole, could learn something from Bulgakov.

This novel is not suitable for getting knowledge, information, that is, in the analytical-summarizing cathegory. Their analysis and view is not

moralizing or psychological, but rather ontological, sociological, ethical.

Readers can be stimulated by the realized misconception as their attitude proved. We could see the rationalizing, defensive readers who perceived

selectively, wrote their own novel, longed for a positive heroe and happy end.

And nevertheless, the novel became an emotional-intellectual shocking ex­

perience for them as well. We could feel that the reading-reception process could be illustrated by accommodation, fight, brightening u p , living.

Master and Margareta was an outstanding point, event in the Hungarian reading got in connection with important political and moralizing life experience.

How long will the success take? How far is the success supported by the fashion of the novel? We aren't able to tell it. This novel filled some information-abscence, supplied a historical lesson. It had an important role in arousing people's interset toward religion, the Bible and transcendence

/typical for seventies and eighties/. However, its "modernness", its mysterious

"turning up" unraveling of the taboo had a determinant role as well. In spite of its formal peculiarities it can be read /with more or less difficulties/

as a historical or a love novel, exposing satire and as a book ends well. It is affirming, exciting, ceasing tension. And last but not least, it was a good opportunity for facing, interpretation of life experience.

Which group is this in the Hungarian society? We cannot give an answer de­

scribed by the exact sociological methods. Our answer is: The readers who filled the requirements mentioned above. This group is illustrated by the presence and lack of some social and professional groups. This research justi­

fies Gabor Bonyhai's statement: aesthetical sensitive is more determinant than education by the society.

According to Berger and Luckmann a human person's life is not absolutely social. The reception and effect cannot be explained by only social factors not because the deficiency of sociological and psychological means. This phenomena spreads to another level where the social laws are unvalid. So we are not able to explain the extraordinary, unexpected effect entirely in the case of those readers who hadn't m e t s i m i l a r literary work or had indicated passive attitude towards literature, art. We could realize the effect of this novel is greater among the readers expecting living down, pleasure, escape than the rational readers with safety principles. Unclouded optimism didn't give the dialogue between the novel and its readers preference, however, m e ­ lancholic state of mind was not an obstacle. Sensitive towards problems,

seeking the sense of the life with varying success, suffering and its artistic formation, "descending to hell" conscious living of limit situations, that is:

the demand of the interpretation of life existence are the efficient conditions for the effect of the novel. Or: An integrated person can join this discourse with greater chance.

In addition to primary socialization the secondary socialization had a de­

terminant role in the reception of literary works as we could see with the example of Master and Margareta. The two types of socialization may fight with each other. This fight, struggle may be a chatartic experience. These problems made readers shock, change or confirm. They were strenghtened on the principle of "who has got, that is given". We could only feel, guess the types of chatarsis caused by the novel: personal creating; lighting new values;

demonstrating our limits.

Master and Margareta's peculiarity may be the catharsis demonstrating our limits, that is, an urging for re-creating the relation of limits and liberty setting to our individuality.

O S Z K - K M K 1985/1.

Munkaszám:85167