Re-territorialization of Space in South Slovakia – Visual Practices of Village Signs

Gábor Oláh

doi:10.5817/soc2015-1-53

Abstract

Brubaker (1996) sees nation as practical category, institutionalized form and contingent event. He examines nation as a category of practice not as a category of analysis (1996:7). Inspired by Brubaker I examine manifestation of nationalism in the circles of the Hungarian national minority in south Slovakian villages from a cultural sociological perspective by focusing to the visual side of nationalistic performance. The appearance of visual objects I explore as a category of national identity that is a practical usage with clear connection to cultural perception of national symbols. The everyday experience organizes discourse and challenges political action but it has a deep cultural and historical dimension that appears visually. I argue that national identity is seen as a map; an imagined mental map that tries to push itself to the map of political borders. One of the most recent and visible manifestation of this struggle are the village signs in szekely writing in south Slovakian villages. The village signs are objects that are visible for everyone who travels between these villages and it is known by the villagers themselves. Hungarian unification and the symbolic geography of Hungarian kingdom is performed and what are the meanings of visual representations and objects in this process. I point to the relation of nation and space (territory), national symbols (imagined Transylvania) and performance of national identity by szekely writing. The representations of the nation, in this case the szekely writing signs need to be transformed to individuals.

Highlights

Brubaker (1996) sees nationhood as a practical category, an institutionalized form and contingent event
Inspired by Brubaker, I examine the manifestation of nationalism in the circles of the Hungarian national minority in south Slovakian villages from a cultural sociological perspective by focusing on the visual side of nationalistic performance
I argue that national identity is seen as a map; an imagined mental map that tries to push itself onto the map of political borders

Summary

Introduction

Brubaker (1996) sees nationhood as a practical category, an institutionalized form and contingent event. He examines the nation as a category of practice not as a category of analysis (1996:7). Inspired by Brubaker, I examine the manifestation of nationalism in the circles of the Hungarian national minority in south Slovakian villages from a cultural sociological perspective by focusing on the visual side of nationalistic performance. I explore the appearance of visual objects as a category of national identity that is a practical usage with a clear connection to the cultural perception of national symbols. One of the most recent and visible manifestations of this struggle is the case of village signs written in székely writing in south Slovakian villages. The representations of the nation, in this case the székely signs, need to be transformed to individuals

Excursion to some Hungarian villages in South Slovakia

Visualization of Imagined Transylvania

Findings

Conclusion