Hungarian Cultural Studies

A Note from the Editor

Paul Olchváry — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Selected English-Language Bibliography of Interest for Hungarian Cultural Studies: 2022–2023

Zsuzsanna Varga — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

This bibliography mostly straddles 2022–2023, covering the period since the summer 2022 publication of last year’s bibliography in this journal. Each year’s bibliography may also be supplemented by previously published items earlier not included. Although this bibliography series can only concentrate on English-language items, occasional items of particular interest in other languages may be included. For a more extensive bibliography of Hungarian Studies from about 2000 to 2014, for which this is a continuing update, see Louise O. Vasvári, Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek, and Carlo Salzani. “Bibliography for Work in Hungarian Studies as Comparative Central European Studies.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture (published by Purdue University) (2011): http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweblibrary/hungarianstudiesbibliography

Édes in the Streets, Csípős in the Sheets

Andrew Behrendt — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

British tourists played an oversized part in the imaginations of interwar Hungarian tourism promoters. Despite arriving in comparatively low numbers, they fell into a circle of privileged foreigners. When it came to tallying successes in attracting visitors from abroad, Anglophone tourists were “golden pheasants”: rich, glamorous, and willing to part with their precious currency—as long as they were courted in the right way. One of those ways was to manage British expectations when it came to Hungarian cuisine. Paprika was a particular cause for concern. With a reputation for intense spiciness, some tourism promoters worried that it would shock the mild Anglophone palate and attempted to reassure potential guests that Hungary would (literally) be to their taste. Yet their concern was largely unrequited. Why? My article investigates this mystery, and with it, explores the role of paprika both in promoting tourism to Hungary and in the broader management of national “branding” for foreign consumption in the uneasy postimperial cultural atmosphere. Drawing on guidebooks, travelogues, advertisements, periodicals, and films, it argues that the spice served as a symbolic marker of confidence (or lack thereof) in Hungary’s place in global affairs. behrendta@mst.edu

Joseph de Fontenay, Vilmos de Huszár, the Revue de Hongrie, and Trianon

Marguerite de Huszár Allen — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

This article addresses the still-perplexing question, as put by historian Andrew Ludányi: “Why were [Hungarians] punished the most severely by the Entente?” It does so by contextualizing Viscount Joseph de Fontenay’s influence on Hungary’s fate before, during, and after World War I. Events while Fontenay was French consul to Hungary (1906–1912) embittered him against his former Hungarian friends. He expressed his rancor in a 1920 letter to the French leader who implemented the Treaty of Versailles after Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau resigned. While in Budapest, Fontenay had founded the successful Hungarian cultural journal, Revue de Hongrie, in French, to form “a durable bond” between the two countries. Vilmos Huszár, editor-in-chief and later owner of the Revue, worked closely with Fontenay. However, historical events drove the journal’s focus toward political issues and support for Austria-Hungary, France’s enemy. Fontenay’s involvement in shaping postwar alliances and sentiment had a negative effect on Hungary’s fate. Huszár’s diplomatic appointment in 1916 to counter Entente propaganda from Switzerland broadened his outlook on events, offering him unique insights that allowed him to bear witness to the devastating effects of false and misleading Entente propaganda and practices in a book of polemical essays. m.dehuszar@gmail.com

Possibilities for a New Social Model?

Péter Krisztián Zachar — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

One of the most important terrains of the European search for new ways in politics between the two world wars was the debate on the reorganization and tasks of the state and, within it, of the economy and society. This topic dominated academic discourse in the 1920s and 1930s. The thinkers who sought answers—economists, philosophers, historians, sociologists, and ecclesiastics—could build on the work of early predecessors, reaching back as far as Thomas Aquinas’s “organic view of society,” later embodied in the economic and political theory of Jesuit solidarism. The common feature of the theories that emerged in the interwar period was that they approached the construction of the state not from the point of view of the individual, but from that of social groups. Vid Mihelics, a prominent exponent of these ideas in Hungary, devoted his journalistic, scientific, and political activities to the Hungarian Catholic revival. His interests focused on social issues and related teachings of the Church. His writings sought solutions through the ideas of Christian humanism, which for him was “the inalienable essence of true Europeanism.” His writings can help us better understand how interconnected Hungarian intellectual life was with European trends in the interwar period. zachar.peter.krisztian@uni-nke.hu

The Auschwitz Report

Frank Baron — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The escape of Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler from Auschwitz on April 7, 1944, was extraordinary in its daring, courageous execution, and impact. The challenging task of the two escapees was to inform the world of previously unimaginable crimes, and to do so in a way that made the unbelievable believable. Because the deportations to Auschwitz were still in progress, it was essential to inform the threatened Jewish populations that they were slated by the Germans to be part of the “final solution.” When and how the transmission of the resulting Auschwitz Report took place, made all the difference, and that is this paper’s focus. Decisive transmissions involved secret networks in Switzerland and Hungary, taking place independently. Despite the presence of the Gestapo and the German army, finally, in early July, 1944, two independent, increasingly powerful efforts engendered by the report converged in Budapest. Only then could one of the most remarkable rescues of World War II take place. fbaron@ku.edu

Narrating the Danube Swabian Identity and Experience from Women's Perspective

Agatha Schwartz — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

This article uses selected memoirs by American women who came from the Danube Swabian minority in present-day Hungary and Serbia (former Yugoslavia). The entire ethnic group was expelled from the region at the end of World War II. All five memoirs were published in the new millennium. This article examines how the narratives frame memories of a prewar happy childhood from young women’s perspective. The childhood memories are presented in stark contrast to the authors’ postwar experiences of expulsion, sexual violence, genocide, flight, and the eventual building of a new life in a new country. All narratives document the brutality with which the Danube Swabian communities were destroyed, particularly in Yugoslavia. Nostalgic overtones about a lost homeland intersect with a lasting feeling of being atopos—i.e., “of no place,” in exile and in the diaspora. While most of the narratives emphasize Danube Swabian victimhood, one narrative stands out in its attempt to create a more multidirectional approach to memory about World War II. agathas@uottawa.ca

Materiality and Making Meaning

Zoltán Szénási — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

In recent decades, scholars working in the realm of the metaphilology have focused increasingly on the materiality of texts; that is, the material aspect of texts in the making of meaning (cf. Jerome McGann’s “bibliographic code”). This article sets out by clarifying what we mean by the materiality of a text; it does so by outlining and discussing the ideas advanced by George Bornstein. Applying the methodology of historical bibliography, it then examines how the changing material context of the poem “Fortissimo,” by one of Hungary’s towering early twentieth-century literary figures, Mihály Babits, influenced that poem’s interpretability from the first stage of its existence to its multiple republications. This poem’s publication history is exceptional from several perspectives. The March 1, 1917, issue of the journal Nyugat was confiscated because of the poem, and its author was prosecuted for blasphemy. But the poem was published in French the same year, and in two anthologies in German the following year. “Fortissimo” became available in Hungarian again only after the Aster Revolution of 1918, in the volume A diadalmas forradalom könyve (The Book of the Triumphant Revolution), alongside works by many other authors, and, within days, once again in Nyugat. Szenasi.Zoltan@abtk.hu

The Absurdity and Irrationality of War in the Everyday Life of the Hinterland

Miklós Sághy — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The present study examines three versions of Tóték (commonly translated as The Toth Family; literally The Tóts), the first two by István Örkény, one of Hungary’s leading twentieth-century writers: a highly successful drama from 1967, instrumental in reforming stage language in Hungary; and the 1966 novella of the same title. The third is their 1969 film adaptation, Isten hozta, őrnagy úr! (Welcome, Major), by Zoltán Fábri. The analysis of the drama and the novel focuses primarily on how a major arriving from the front during World War II brings the madness and irrationality of the war into the life of the Toth family when he stays with them for two weeks. The paper’s second part examines the film adaption, asking in particular how the film represents madness and absurdity, given their key role in the original literary sources. The situation and the fate of the Toth family can be interpreted in all three works in more general terms as well, as a model for the working mechanisms and absurdity of dictatorships anywhere, hence, even if only indirectly, of 1960s Hungary. Saghy.Miklos@hung.u-szeged.hu

Translanguaging in Family Communication

Janka Szilágyi, Tünde Szécsi — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

This paper reports on a phenomenological study that examined Hungarian American parents’ perceptions and practices related to translanguaging—a systematic scaffolding strategy that utilizes multiple linguistic repertoires to facilitate competence and performance in two or more language—in family communication. We used semistructured interviews with questions related to language use, parents’ reactions to translanguaging, and their perceptions of why and how translanguaging occurs in oral and written family communications. The participants included twelve Hungarian American families with adolescent children who used the Hungarian language in family communication. The findings indicated that most families found translanguaging natural and positive, and these families used supportive and constructive behaviors when translanguaging happened. A few parents rejected the practice of translanguaging when the communication took place in Hungarian, which indicated monoglossic language ideologies. These divergent views of family language policy were often explained by the familial, social, and cultural contexts of the families. Because parents are the main stakeholders in language maintenance, their perspectives and practices are essential. This paper contributes to our understanding of family language policies regarding translanguaging and offer recommendations for a minority language community, the Hungarian American immigrant community, for which translanguaging is not well researched. jszilagy@brockport.edu

The Hungarian Diaspora in Sydney

Kinga Constantinovits — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Focusing on the Hungarian diaspora in Sydney, Australia, this paper finds that the key to preserving the Hungarian identity of emigrants and their descendants is maintaining and cultivating Hungarian traditions. Some institutions and organizations, such as Hungarian schools and the Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris, can help in this regard. To examine this topic, I conducted a pilot study asking the following questions: (1) What are the main elements of Hungarian identity in the diaspora? and (2) What is the main role that Hungarian scouts and other organizations play in preserving Hungarian identity? In the first part of the research, the most prominent people of the Hungarian diaspora in Sydney, Australia were interviewed. The interviews showed that Hungarian scouting plays a crucial role in the survival of Hungarian culture and community, which was reflected linguistically too. Subsequently, I conducted a questionnaire survey, whose results also confirmed that scouting is both an element of and a tool for Hungarian identity construction. Some key elements of identity, according to the respondents—language, culture, holidays, and community—are clearly included in scouting. The results also suggest that support for Hungarian emigrant organizations can be an effective way to maintain national identity. constantinovits.kinga.katalin@hallgato.ppke.hu

Ablonczy, Balázs. 2022. Go East! A History of Hungarian Turanism. Translated by Sean Lambert. Studies in Hungarian History. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. 278 pp. Illus.

Zsuzsanna Varga — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Bohus, Kata, Peter Hallama and Stephan Stach, eds. 2022. Growing in the Shadow of Antifascism: Remembering the Holocaust in State-Socialist Eastern Europe. Budapest: Central European University Press. 340 pp. Illus.

Zoltán Kékesi — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Csák, János Zoltán. 2022. Az amerikai géniusz (The American Genius). Budapest: MCC Press Kft. 136 pp.

Károly Pintér — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Czigányik, Zsolt. 2023. Utopia Between East and West in Hungarian Literature. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan Cham (Palgrave Studies in Utopianism, ix). 252 pp.

Ralph Dumain — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Frenyó, Zoltán. ed. 2021. Konzervatív arcképek (Conservative Portraits). Budapest: L’Harmattan Kiadó – TIT Kossuth Klub Egyesület. 519 pp.

Anita M. Madarász — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Hammerstein, Judit. 2022. Oroszok és magyarok. Magyar írók Oroszország-/Szovjetunió-tapasztalata az 1920─1930-as években (Russians and Hungarians: Hungarian Writers’ Russian/Soviet Experience during the 1920s and 1930s). Budapest: Örökség Kultúrpolitikai Intézet. 444 pp.

Peter Pastor — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Kaposi, Zoltán and József Vonyó, eds. 2022. Pécs története VI: Iparosodás – Polgárosodás: Pécs a Dualizmus korában (The History of Pécs VI: The Growth of Industry and the Middle Classes: Pécs in the Era of Dualism). Pécs: Pécs Története Alapítvány and Kronosz Kiadó. 559 pp. Illus.

George Deák — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Leafstedt, Carl S. 2021. A Thorn in the Rosebush: The American Bartók Estate and Archives During the Cold War, 1948–67. Reno, NV: Helena History Press. 422 pp.

Sarah M. Lucas — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Majtényi, George. 2021. Luxury and the Ruling Elite in Socialist Hungary. Translated by Thomas Cooper, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 366 pp.

Veronika Schandl — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Nadkarni, Maya. 2020. Remains of Socialism: Memory and the Futures of the Past in Postsocialist Hungary. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 252 pp.

Katalin Fábian — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Nóvé, Béla. 2022. Magyar emigrációtörténeti kézikönyv (Handbook of Hungarian Emigration History). Budapest: Országos Széchényi Könyvtár. 376 pp.

James P. Niessen — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Pánczél Hegedűs, János. 2022. Nem forradalom, hanem szabadságharc: Mindszenty József 1956-os helyzete és tevékenysége (Not a Revolution, but a Fight for Freedom: The Position and Activities of József Mindszenty in 1956). Budapest: L’Harmattan. 390 pp.

Bernadette Wirthné Diera — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Taylor, Mary N. 2021. Movement of the People: Hungarian Folk Dance, Populism, and Citizenship. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 316 pp. Illus.

Lisa Overholser — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Personal Notes on Hungarian American Bilingualism Research

Miklós Kontra — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

In 1967, linguist John Lotz, born in Milwaukee but raised mostly in Hungary, called attention to the lack of research on Hungarian American bilingualism at a time when monographs and PhD dissertations described, in great detail, the bilingualism of Norwegian, Greek, Polish, and Finnish people in the US. When I became an associate instructor of Hungarian at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1978, I embarked on The Project on Hungarian American Bilingualism in South Bend, Indiana. As a result, eighty hours of Hungarian speech and sixty hours of English were recorded, and a book appeared in Hungarian in 1990. Not much later, in 1995, I was involved with the publication of Beyond Castle Garden: An American Hungarian Dictionary of the Calumet Region, compiled and written by Andrew Vázsonyi. The personal reflections comprising this article will deal with some important issues concerning fieldwork in South Bend and will offer a brief characterization of the differences between Hungarian American bilingualism in the 1970s and today. kontram@gmail.com

A Hungarian Musician’s Memoir of Suffering, Survival, and Fate

Jeffrey Charles Wagner — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Finding an aging manuscript written by a beloved teacher and musician, George Bánhalmi (1926–1935), led the author to investigate Bánhalmi’s detainment, as a Jew, in forced labor in Hungary during World War II, which was the focus of the manuscript. The author’s narrative in this article touches also on some of Bánhalmi’s accomplishments in life after surviving his time of forced labor: graduating with honors from Budapest’s famed Franz Liszt Academy; winning a top prize in the piano category in the 1956 Queen Elisabeth [of Belgium] Competition; concertizing in Eastern Europe and the United States; composing numerous musical works; and, and after settling in the United States in the wake of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, teaching several generations of young people, including the author. jeffwagner@aol.com

Cultural Lenses and Biological Filters On What Makes a Hungarian in the Present and in the Distant Past

Emőke J. E. Szathmáry — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

The definition of a memoir is “an account of the personal experiences of an author.” This paper provides the reflections of a physical (biological) anthropologist specializing in the genetics of the Indigenous peoples of North America who was born in Hungary, raised in Canada, and served twelve years as president and vice chancellor of the University of Manitoba. This professional background may question the relevance of these reflections to Hungarian studies. However, issues raised by János Kenyeres, the keynote speaker of the 2019 American Hungarian Educators Association conference, in his examination of Hungarian identity manifest in Hungarian literature—specifically, regarding “essentialist thinking”—are related to fundamental issues about the nature of human diversity with which physical (biological) anthropologists have been grappling since the eighteenth century. In an era in which commercial genetic genealogical services promise to identify ancestors and ethnicity, and genetic studies of living peoples as well as archaeogenomic studies of skeletal remains seek to identify relationships, current perspectives on what does—or does not—constitute “the essence of an individual and the groups to which one belongs” are worth considering. Facts, wherever they occur, are subject to interpretation. It is the cultural interpretation that we give to genetic identity that imbues that concept with meaning. emoke.szathmary@umanitoba.ca