"Have a good day, cheer loudly and bon appétit!" – The 13th Legere Literary Competition has begun
15th October 2024 marked the start of the 13th Legere Literary Competition which was jointly organised by the Institute of Hungarian Language and Literary Science of the Faculty of Central European Studies of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, the Hungarian Academic Council of Slovakia, the László A. Arany Civic Association and the Bázis Association.
The competition which has been very popular among secondary school students for many years, deviates from tradition and focuses on the themes of "Literature, Sports, Gastronomy" instead of authors' anniversaries. The unconventional character of the 13th Legere was further enhanced by playing a new theme song, composed by the Hungarian language and music students of the host university.
At the opening ceremony, Anikó N. Tóth welcomed the students, accompanying teachers, colleagues, doctoral students and fifth-year students who participated in the competition. The "match" began after the opening speech of Ján Bauko, the director of the institute.
In Round 1 the contestants worked with Miklós Mészöly's novel "The Death of the Athlete" which provided an excellent basis for the tasks related to the competition’s theme. The participants were divided into groups of three to test their knowledge, preparation and creativity, while also analysing the literary history, theory and form of the novel.
In the meantime, an exciting methodological workshop was held for the accompanying teachers led by Katalin Vinczellér. The workshop focused on Dániel Varró's poem "if fear is in my heart" and Ervin Lázár's short story "Football". Participants explored different aspects of the interweaving of sports and literature by these literary works. Through the interpretation of the above works they gained deeper understanding of the literary treatment of the themes of sports, offering new perspectives for exploring the links between the two fields.
After a short break Krisztián Benyovszky had a presentation entitled "From the library to the kitchen – and back. Gastronomic adventures in literature". The lecture focused on the representation of gastronomy in literature and served as a preparation for the next round of the competition. The topic of gastronomy was introduced into the competition this way adding an exciting new perspective to the literary and sports themes. Afterwards participants were able to explore the gastronomic aspects of literature while preparing themselves to next tasks.
After the lecture Gabriella Petres had a short presentation of the answer key for round no. 1 and spoke in details about the next round.
Good luck to all participants and we look forward to welcoming you all back for round no. 2 on the 12th November!
Virág Mercédesz Fóthi
Photo: Zsuzsa Hajabács
