When the Author Gets Caught in an Over-Regulated Society

One myth of the 20th century is that we can leave or even annihilate our determined existence by changing name or identity. In this paper I show the heydays and fall of this myth in Hungary through the work of artist and performer Tibor Hajas and writer and poet András Petőcz. The art of Tibor Hajas (action, performance, happening) was completed by the pathos of identity change, while the experiments of gender change by András Petőcz raises concerns about the impossibility of identity change. I don’t want to investigate the identity change as a psychological problem but as a sociological, esthetic question. It isn’t my goal neither to challenge the authenticity of the female perspective and experience presented by András Petőcz. After throwing a glance at the artists and their work I try to unfold this question, nevertheless I don’t intent to answer it.