11
„Man, you do not live for yourself, live however you want, you do not live for yourself, though...“ On Mikuláš Dohnány´s Melancholy
Authors: Magdalena Bystrzak
Number of views: 297
The paper outlines one of the forms of melancholy in the literary discourse of Slovak
romanticism. As regards materials, it is based on egodocuments by Mikuláš Dohnány
(1824 – 1852), in particular his diaries (1850 – 1852) and correspondence (1839 – 1852), as
regards research, it is focused on the conflict between the latent (melancholy) and manifested
(heroic and messianic) lines of the author´s production. The antagonism between
the ideal and the reality forms the basis for M. Dohnány´s life experience and it is also
noticeable in his intimate diary records. The subject of the analysis is the performative
and functional nature of Dohnány´s diaries, which feature so-called self-disciplining
comments prompting the author to take action, to make a difference. Dohnány´s melancholy,
which has several romantic characteristics (it is based on negation, inward
oriented, attached to the „inner self ”), remains hidden thanks to them and is subject
to the self-control mechanism as it does not correspond with the ideal of a „ brave
Štúr´s follower“, which Dohnány kept trying to put into practice.