The Correspondence of Károly Kerényi and Martin Buber

Translated, with Introduction and Notes by Anna Zsellér

Abstract

The complete correspondence between Martin Buber and Károly Kerényi, exchanged between 1947 and 1963, is presented in Hungarian translation, accompanied by an introductory essay and detailed annotations. Through this series of letters, a unique intellectual and emotional relationship is revealed, shaped by the postwar years, political disillusionment, emigration, and the experience of life in a chosen homeland. Particular emphasis is placed on their reflections concerning myth, religion, humanism, and Jungian psychoanalysis. The exchange is interpreted as a significant document of mid-twentieth-century European thought. The letters are contextualized by a critical apparatus that highlights their philosophical and historical relevance, and by a preface that explores the possibilities and limitations of dialogue in the shadow of historical crisis. Making this material accessible in Hungarian provides a rare testimony for readers interested in intellectual history, Jewish thought, and the modern legacy of classical antiquity.