Csaba Horváth, a literary historian and my co-author on the biographical book “THE AIRPORT RABBIT”, gave a guest lecture on “PIXEL” at Georgia State University on March 31, 2026, at the invitation of Professor Gina Caison. The class was attended by MA and doctoral students from the Department of Literature, who had read the book as part of Owen Good’s course. At the beginning of the two-hour session, two doctoral students outlined their proposed approaches, which focused on the structure of “PIXEL”, its visual parallels, and the relationships between the characters. The introduction proved so comprehensive and thought-provoking that the session, originally intended as a traditional lecture, transformed into a vibrant discussion. Questions arose about whether the world can be described in any way other than in a fragmented form; what human life is like when one simultaneously belongs to a majority that demands identification and several different minorities; and why the female perspective is identifiable, even though the Hungarian language lacks gender distinctions. Out of interest, some students downloaded the text in Hungarian to compare it with the original version to see if they could identify any structures that might parallel those in the English text.
Once again, it became clear that literature, by connecting cultures with different backgrounds, sheds light on defining moments in the reader’s own life experience. The students in the course approached the work from the perspective of current schools of literary theory, but they spoke of it as a genuine experience: these Central European stories work perfectly even in Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, 8,200 km from Budapest.
Whilst every translation inevitably loses something from the original text, it can also add to it. Owen Good’s English version made “PIXEL” fully-relevant in English as well.
At the end of the class, students asked about works of contemporary Hungarian literature available in translation. It came as no surprise, but it was proven once again that the mindset and literature of the American South share many parallels with those of Central Europe.
Photos showing Gina Caison’s portrait, the university group’s students and a diagram illustrating the connections within PIXEL.
