Experiences of a Developmental Crisis in the Course of Life in Twentieth-Century Writers. Sándor Márai and Maria Kuncewiczowa

The subject of this study is the psychological analysis which uses a biographical method to analyze the last stages of a long life and the crisis “between life and death”of the two outstanding writers of the twentieth century: Maria Kuncewiczowa and Sándor Márai. The analyzed data giving insight into the life events and the personal experiences of the last few years of their lives was sourced from the last texts published by the writers. In the case of Maria Kuncewiczowa, these are: Notatki włoskie: Przezrocza (Italian Notes: Transparencies, 2010) and Listy do Jerzego (Letters to Jerzy, 1988). In the case of the Hungarian writer Sándor Márai, it will be the final part of the 5th Volume of the Diary 1977–1989, pp. 345–387 (Márai, 2020). The tasks and challenges at this stage of life, which is one immediately preceding the inevitable death, are as follows: functioning at the late old age in a changed life situation after the death of the spouse and the manner of responding to one’s own death. The analysis of experiences related to the life situation, mainly carried out with use of the conceptual apparatus of the psychology of the course of life (Bühler, 1999), allows us to observe the coherence of life events and subjective experiences in the examined period of life, which is an expression of the creative activity and the spirituality of these outstanding writers, as well as constitutes their life experience in preparation for the death.

The subject of this study is the psychological analysis which uses a biographical method to analyze the last stages of a long life and the crisis “between life and death”of the two outstanding writers of the twentieth century: Maria Kuncewiczowa and Sándor Márai. The analyzed data giving insight into the life events and the personal experiences of the last few years of their lives was sourced from the last texts published by the writers. In the case of Maria Kuncewiczowa, these are: Notatki włoskie: Przezrocza (Italian Notes: Transparencies, 2010) and Listy do Jerzego (Letters to Jerzy, 1988). In the case of the Hungarian writer Sándor Márai, it will be the final part of the 5th Volume of the Diary 1977–1989, pp. 345–387 (Márai, 2020). The tasks and challenges at this stage of life, which is one immediately preceding the inevitable death, are as follows: functioning at the late old age in a changed life situation after the death of the spouse and the manner of responding to one’s own death. The analysis of experiences related to the life situation, mainly carried out with use of the conceptual apparatus of the psychology of the course of life (Bühler, 1999), allows us to observe the coherence of life events and subjective experiences in the examined period of life, which is an expression of the creative activity and the spirituality of these outstanding writers, as well as constitutes their life experience in preparation for the death.