Combining the concepts of Lacan and Castoriadis with Assmann’s theory of cultural memory, the article explores the myth of the Hungarian land seizure in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century literature as well as its political functions of simultaneously founding and reinventing the nation. The cultural imaginary of a continuous and unitary Hungarian constitution is produced and sustained by different media, such as images, festivities, and narratives that create the image of the nation’s primordial Asian origin. Fictional works around the time of the ‘millennium’ celebration of the land seizure in 1896 contribute a vivid iconography of this image before they are replaced by the western orientation of early twentieth century Hungarian literature.