Ethnicity, Propaganda, Myth-Making: Studies on Hungarian Connections to Britain and America, 1848-1945 by Tibor s> Frank (review)

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REVIEWS 565 simplistically,the societal dynamic of late nineteenth-centuryPolishnationalism , most certainlynot bottom-up, was essentiallya potent combination of the traditionaltop-down and what may be termedthe new 'middle-up'. What shortcomings are inherent in the study are all reflections of its monographic limitations. Even for an unapologetically specialiststudy, there is too much of the unreconstructed doctoral thesis, while opportunities for 'opening up' a sometimes hermetic text to improve reader accessibilityhave not been exploited. In termsof chronologicalscope, the emphasisis solidlyon the last two decades of the nineteenth century, tantalizinglydownplayingthe crucial decade before the FirstWorld War. In terms of geographical range, the focus is not really on the entire crownland of Galicia but only western Galicia: Ruthenian-dominated eastern Galicia where Polish settlement was fundamentally diasporic gets short shrift.At the structurallevel, there is no wayinwhich abroadercontextualdiscussion,preferablydrawingcomparisons with the other two partitioned territories of 'Poland', can be satisfactorily accommodated in a 'Conclusion'of barelyfourpages. At the illustrativelevel, the sole map provided showsonly the demographyof Polishsettlementwithin Galicia itself. Somewhat revealingly,there are no maps to illustrateeitherthe geographicallocation of Galiciawithin the HabsburgEmpireor the geopolitical relationshipof Galiciawithin partitioned'Poland'. None of these reservations, predominantly concerning sins of omission ratherthan sinsof commission, detractsfromthe demonstrablescholarshipof the study. Indeed, within its monographic confines, 7he Nationin the Village prompts a generous run of intriguing questions pertinent to (and often challenging)the prevailinghistoriographyof nationalismand the peasantryin Poland.At veryleast, at a timewhen late nineteeth-centuryPolishnationalism has been cast in a glaringly negative light, most notably in Brian Porter's recent WhenNationalism Beganto Hate (New York and Oxford, 2000), the appearance of an authoritative interpretation which serves as an historiographical alternative (or even corrective)by illuminating its more positive featuresmustbe enthusiasticallywelcomed. Department ofHistory RAYMOND PEARSON University ofUlster atColeraine Frank,Tibor. Ethnicity, Propaganda, Myth-Making. Studies onHungarian Connections to BritainandAmerica,i848-I945. Akademiai Kiad6, Budapest, 2001. 39I pp. Maps. Illustrations.Tables. Notes. Index. $78.oo. THISvolume bringstogetherpaperswrittenover a period of years covering a wide range of topics. The studies originally appeared in English-language publications in Hungary and Germany, and also in American and British publications. In the main they were written in Englishby the author until recently the Director of Anglo-American Studies at the Eotvos L6rant University, Budapest but some were translated from German, or from Hungarian by colleagues or by himself. Nonetheless, they show a remarkable unity of style. 566 SEER, 8i, 3, 2003 The volume is organized into three neat gatherings:i. 'The Cultivationof Nativism';2. 'The Politicsof Propaganda';and 3. 'Demythologizing a Canon: Marx and Kossuth'. Of the many interesting and I could also say exciting studiesin thisvolume, 'HungarianHistoryDiverted' perhapsbest exemplifies how history creates a need, then an opportunity, and finally an abyss for scholarly studies. Frankdescribes, for example, how a project on Hungarian history to be written jointly by H6man, Deer and Szekfuiand translated (mainly) by Neville Masterman was sunk by the advent of the Second WorldWar. Frankcould have offered the notion of 'debunking'in a summarytitle for this volume, since this is the primary dynamic of many of its twenty-two studies. With well focused and painstaking scholarship, Frank successfully undermines the myths of Hungarian history, for example, that there was censorship but it was easily dodged in the reformera; that Marx and Engels were friendsto Kossuth and the Hungarian revolution of I848-49 ('Mythby Myth-Makersof the Peoples' Democracy'); or 'Kossuth [... .] chose freedom in his solitaryconfinement by reading, studyingand translatingthe words of Shakespeare' (p. 203). This was an exaggeration, perpetuated by Kossuth himself, who liked to narrow down a wide palette to a dominant colour for maximum effect. (Incidentally, Frank seems unsure as to how Kossuth acquired his German. He did not 'learn' it in later life but took it from his motherwho was German.) The particularcharacter of Frank'swriting and this is also true of his famous volume on Zerffi - it that he successfully combines rigorous scholarship with strong story telling. This is best demonstrated here in the 'Marx and Kossuth' sequel which reads like a reconstructeddetective story, with the main charactersplayed by Marx, Kossuth and Zerffi,and subsidiary playersBangya, Szemere, Pulszkyand Imre Szabad. Reading thissequel once again in 2002, one comes away with the feeling that every absolutistpower will have...