E-mail: bollobas.eniko@btk.elte.hu
Homepage: www.bollobaseniko.com
Phone: +36 1 485 5200 / 4368
Office: Room 312

CV

Enikő Bollobás, Ph.D., habil., D.Litt., is Professor of Literature in the Department of American Studies. She was one of the three founders of the Department of American Studies at ELTE in 1989-90, acting as its Department Chair for twenty years between 1997 and 2017. In 2016 she launched a new Ph.D. program, “Gender in English and American Literature and Culture,” which she serves as program director.

A graduate of ELTE with an M.A. in English and General Linguistics (1975), Ms. Bollobás obtained her Dr. Univ. in American Literature (1978), received her C.Sc. (Ph.D.) in Literature at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1984), her Habilitation in Literature at ELTE (2004), and her D.Litt. (D.Sc.) from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2009). She did her postgraduate work in Minneapolis (University of Minnesota) and La Jolla (University of California, San Diego), was research fellow for three years at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1979-82), and recipient of the Széchenyi Professorial grant (1999-2002). Twice she was Visiting Fulbright Professor at the University of Oregon in Eugene (1986-87, 1996), teaching courses in American and Hungarian Literature. She was also IFUSS (International Forum for U.S. Studies) Research and Teaching Fellow at the University of Iowa in 1998 and 2000, and Visiting Fulbright scholar at UCSD (University of California, San Diego) in 2005. Co-Chair of the Hungarian Association for American Studies between 2001 and 2003, Dr. Bollobás has been International Advisory Board Member of IFUSS (International Forum for U.S. Studies) since 2000. In 2019 she was elected Corresponding Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Her professional interests range from American literary history and literary theory to American studies and American studies theories, Hungarian-American relations, and Hungarian literature.

Professor Bollobás has authored seven books on American literature, among them, Az amerikai irodalom rövid története (A Short History of American Literature; Budapest: Osiris, 2015) and Az amerikai irodalom története (A History of American Literature; Budapest: Osiris, 2005), Vendégünk a végtelenből – Emily Dickinson költészete (Our Visitor from Infinitude – Emily Dickinson’s Poetry; Budapest: Balassi, 2015), Egy képlet nyomában – Karakterelemzések az amerikai és a magyar irodalomból (In Search of a Formula – Character Studies in American and Hungarian Literature; Budapest: Balassi, 2012), and Charles Olson (New York: Twayne, 1992). She has edited seven volumes in literary and cultural criticism, American and Hungarian. Her numerous essays have appeared in international and Hungarian scholarly journals (among them, Arcade, Emily Dickinson Journal, Paideuma, American Quarterly, Hungarian Cultural Studies, Journal of Pragmatics, Language and Style, Word and Image, Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, AMERICANA, Jelenkor, Holmi, Pompeji, Helikon, Műút, A Dunánál, Nagyvilág, Magyar Napló).

Professor Bollobás has lectured internationally at conferences from Strasbourg to New Delhi, has been invited speaker at various universities, including such prestigious schools as Cambridge University (England), Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, Georgetown, George Washington University, UCSD, and the University Iowa. She has also been invited to speak at numerous research institutions such as Brookings, Smithsonian, Chautauqua, American Jewish Committee, Meridian House, Freedom House, and the Wiesenthal Center.

During the 1980s, Ms. Bollobás was active in the political opposition. As part of her commitment to human rights, in 1989 she founded the Szeged-based political discussion group Hungarian Feminists, the first non-communist organization to address women's issues. A dedicated Atlanticist, Ms. Bollobás was Vice-Chair (1992-1994) and Secretary General (1994-96) of the Hungarian Atlantic Council, a civic organization lobbying at the time for Hungary’s NATO membership.

A graduate of Senior Managers in Government at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Enikő Bollobás worked in government administration between 1990 and 1994: as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and as Director of the Department of Atlantic and Israeli Affairs of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her opinion pieces at the time appeared in The Washington Post and The International Herald Tribune, and were incorporated into the Congressional Record of the United States Congress.

Research Grants and Awards, Visiting Professorships

Research grants and awards

• Fulbright Research Grant, University of California, San Diego (2005)
• Kellner Short Research Grant, University of California, San Diego (2002); University of Iowa (2001)
• Széchenyi Professorial Grant, Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture (1999 – 2002)
• Rockefeller Grant/Research Award, International Forum for U.S. Studies, University of Iowa (1998)
• Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Association—German Marshall Fund, Campus Fellow: Bard College (NY), Central College (Iowa), Ohio Wesleyan University (1995)
• German Marshall Fund Grant, Program for Senior Managers in Government, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government (1992)
• German Marshall Fund Grant, Washington, D.C. (1989)
• Salzburg Seminar, Salzburg Seminar in American Studies, (1985)
• IREX Visiting Scholar, New York Public Library; University of California, San Diego, (1981 – 1982)
• Post–Doctoral Fellowship, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest (1979 – 1982)
• CIES Grant, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1978 – 1979)

Visiting professorships

• Visiting Professor, Utica College, NY, 2006
• Erasmus Guest Lecturer, University of Turku, Finland, 2002
• Visiting Associate Professor, University of Iowa, 2000
• Fulbright Visiting Professor, University of Oregon, Eugene, 1996
• Fulbright Visiting Professor, University of Oregon, Eugene, 1986/87

Awards

• Corresponding Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2019)
• Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (2013)
• Albert Szent–Györgyi Prize (2013)
• László Országh Award (2011)
• HUSSE (Hungarian Society for the Study of English) Best Book Award (2009)



Research Areas and Publication Topics

American Literary History
American Modern and Postmodern Literatures
Radical Poetics, Free Verse Prosodies
Experimental Traditions in Poetry and Fiction

Literary Theory
Theories of Modernism and Postmodernism
Post-Deconstruction Theories
Subjectivity Theories
Performative Theories
Feminist Criticism

American Studies Theories
The New Americanists
The Postmodern Episteme in American Studies

Hungarian-American Relations
The Amish-Habán Connection
John Xántus
Hungarian-American Diplomatic Relations after 1990

Hungarian Literature
Hungarian Poets in English
Experimental Poets
Twentieth-century Hungarian Literature



Publications

For a selected list of publications see the Wikipedia article on Professor Bollobás and her own web page.
For a full list of publications, complete with citations, see www.mtmt.hu.




Courses in American Studies at ELTE

For courses taught in American Studies at ELTE see the course catalogue of the School of English and American Studies.