Writing True: Authenticity in Agota Kristof and Katalin Molnár

Abstract

Agota Kristof and Katalin Molnár, two Franco-Hungarian authors of the twentieth century, share the concern to use a language that can express a certain reality and truth. For that, they distance themselves from the normative French language and write in an incorrect language, more apt to represent their difference. However, while Kristof wants to reach maximum objectivity, Molnár writes in an exaggeratedly subjective way. This article examines the textual and extratextual position of these authors regarding the possibility of writing the truth, through the analysis of language in Kristof's trilogy and in La­mour Dieu of Molnár