The Journalist Doctor (Artur Munk)

Abstract

Artur Munk was a physician practising in Subotica in the first half of the last century, who, in addition to his civil profession, was also engaged in literature, writing novels, plays and newspaper articles. His writings depict life, events and people in Subotica in the happy peacetime and between the two world wars and are considered important works concerning local history. His novels, such as Köszönöm, addig is… [Thank you, and so long…], A nagy káder [Big Face] and Hinterland were popular readings and enhanced Munk’s already established popularity as a doctor. These works are also important for literary historians because Munk went to the same school as Dezső Kosztolányi and Géza Csáth, therefore his works provide valuable information about them as well as about the environment that gave birth and context to their careers. In this article, I will explore Munk’s writings published in the Sunday literary column of the newspaper ’Bácsmegyei Napló’ [’Bács County Diary’] (from 1931 it is called ’Napló’ ’Diary’) between 1928 and 1941 focusing on the themes, genres and motifs which can also be found in his popular novels. Munk was not a staff member of the paper but his writings were nevertheless published from time to time. The literary supplement of the paper, and by his organising work the editor Ferenc Fenyves himself did much good for the advancement of Hungarian literature evolving in Vojvodina. The study reveals that although Munk tried his hand at several genres, only his novels achieved real success. In addition, the writings discovered may contribute to a deeper understanding of his motifs and to a more complete picture of his career.