Democracy in America

Vörösmarty Mihály Honszeretet című versének értelmezési kontextusáról

Abstract

The essay provides a reading of Mihály Vörösmarty’s poem, Honszeretet (Patriotism) based on an interpretation of the concept of patriotism and the patriot, which appear in a new light in the work, expanding these concepts with elements previously unknown in Hungarian poetry. The most important assumption of the essay is that the concept of patriotism, as it appears in the poem, can be traced back to Alexis de Tocqueville’s influential work, De la démocratie en Amérique, already available in Hungarian at the time of the composition of Vörösmarty’s poem.