SOURCE: Konrád, George. “A Dissident's Notes: ‘Informing on Ourselves’.” Nation 244, no. 8 (28 February 1987): 237, 254-56.

In the following essay, excerpted from a manuscript sent by Konrád to the Nation, and translated by an anonymous translator, the author reflects on the role of the artist in European and American history and society.

The 1956 Hungarian revolution was very likely the most significant event in my life because in it I acted according to my own nature, along with others. I did not participate as a person subject to discrimination but as a recent Hungarian university graduate. The fact that I am Jewish was not altogether insignificant, but neither was it greatly significant. At that time, I chose to support the revolution—with reservations, and horrified by the prospect of killing, but I chose the revolution. And I have not regretted my decision since. To this day I maintain that a...