Transzkulturális nyelvhasználat és identitáskonstrukció Penckófer János Hamuthercímű kisregényében

Transcultural language use and identity construction in János Penckófer’s novella “Hamuther”Gabriella Mádi,PhD. Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian Collegeof Higher Education, Department of Philology, associate professor. [email protected], ORCID: 0000-0002-4520-7932.The present study explores the interrelation between multilingualism and identity construction inthe unique social and linguistic environment of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, through a detailed analysis of János Penckófer’s novella “Hamuther”. It is based on the premise that linguistic contact phenomena and identity patterns reflected in literary texts can be paralleled with real social processes, making literature a valuable source for sociolinguistic research. The paper presents the historical background of the linguistic environment and literature of Transcarpathia, with special emphasis on the post-Soviet era, a period marked by significant transformations in the region’s social and linguistic structures. The methodology is interdisciplinary: the combination of critical discourse analysis and the close reading technique enables a nuanced examination of language use, narrative strategies, and the representation of identity. Special attention is given to code-switching, which is a natural feature of multilingual settings but in literary texts also serves stylistic and meaning-making functions. The linguistic layering of “Hamuther” is particularly evident in the phonetic, Latin-script rendering of Russian elements and their immediate translation, which bridges the gap between a multilingual reality and a monolingual reader. The work simultaneously offers a social portrait of the Hungarian community in 1990s Transcarpathia and reveals personal, existential dilemmas, highlighting the complex interplay between minority status, language contact, and social vulnerability. The findings enrich the linguistic approach to minority literature and contribute to a deeper understanding of literary representations of language use and identity among Hungarians in Transcarpathia.Keywords: multilingualism, minority identity, Transcarpathia, literature, code-switching.