Measuring identity change: analysing fragments from the diary of Sándor Károlyi with social-network analysis

Abstract

The theoretical portion of the analysis presented in this article builds on identity theory (IT), which argues that identities are embedded in, and affected by social-network contexts. It aims to map and measure the alteration of the social network of Sándor Károlyi, an eighteenth-century Hungarian aristocrat, so as to make the identity change intelligible. Since the absence of wars during the period examined provides a social space where social relations are ‘standing still’, a detailed scrutiny of the social ties of the aristocrat is feasible based on his daily diary entries between 1725 and 1734. First, I will elaborate on how the newly gained rank and prestige contributed to the aristocrat's emerging credit-worthiness and subsequently led to successful property acquisitions. Then, building on the fragmentation hypothesis, I will discuss how the spatially fragmented social networks of Hungarian nobles are in connection with a new type of emergence in social positions at this period that was initiated by the centralising neo-absolutist endeavour of the Empire. Finally, I will generalise about the consequences of this ‘exceptional normal’ case on the macro level.