Biographical Research in Hungary

Abstract

In our paper we examine the emergence and status of qualitative sociology in Hungary. We wish to show that the first steps in qualitative research were not taken by sociologists but by a group of literary/fiction writers who appeared to be sensitive to sociological problems. This kind of qualitative thinking, however, came to an end after WWII as it was deemed dangerous and hostile by the totalitarian system. With the thaw of the party state dictatorship and as a result of the birth of the oppositional movement, social criticism reappeared in various genres such as literature, sociography, film and slowly in sociology. The critique of the existing regime became the mission of sociology. However, „biographical research“, which is the focal point of this volume, only makes its way into Hungary after the regime change in 1989/1990, at the same time as the rupture between the qualitative and quantitative approaches in sociology takes place.