The Trace of the Butterfly

Animal–Human Relations in the Early Short Stories of Miklós Mészöly

Abstract

The paper offers a zoopoetic reading of three early short stories (“Balcony and Poplars”; “Under the Cliffs”; “Animals, Humans”) by Miklós Mészöly, exposing the way they present certain aspects of the relationship between humans and animals. The close reading of the texts focuses on how the characters’ reflections on insects, livestock or their supposedly beloved pets are undermined, destabilized and expanded by the language of the narration. I argue that Mészöly’s writings point to evanescence as a common trait shared by humans and animals without attempting to domesticate the latter’s otherness.