The concept of Märchen (fairy tale) in the young György Lukács

Abstract

The article examines György Lukács’s early works from the perspective of his concept of Märchen (fairy tale). It thus sheds light upon a somewhat underexplored – but nonetheless crucial – aspect of the young philosopher’s work: his attempt to overcome the strict dualism in which the emerging German sociological thought was rooted, and to intellectually prove the possibility of a dignified human existence. Such an attempt does not only confront the concepts of Märchen and tragedy in Lukács’ early conceptualization of literary genres, it also turns the former into a sort of “touchstone” in the search of forms of literature that assume a dialectically conditioned relationship between subject and object, and, furthermore, into an adequate means for a revolutionary pedagogy.