Abstract
The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the usefulness of, and the lessons that can be learned from, a type of source that has been insufficiently analyzed and used to date — that is, the minutes of local councils, and of public hearings in particular. Data from 29 sets of minutes from four neighboring small settlements in the Hungarian-Slovenian border region (Apátistvánfalva, Kétvölgy, Kondorfa, and Orfalu) suggest that the use and inclusion in research of the text corpus that comprises the large available quantities of such sources can effectively supplement, although not replace, ethnographic fieldwork based on participant observation. At the same time, the examination of this text corpus, along with other internal sources belonging to the local public sphere, makes it possible to construct an image of the internal workings of a settlement and the dynamics of its power relations that would not otherwise be accessible for study.
Highlights
The aim of this article is to examine a group of sources that have so far been used only marginally in Hungarian ethnographic research
The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the usefulness of, and the lessons that can be learned from, a type of source that has been insufficiently analyzed and used to date — that is, the minutes of local councils, and of public hearings in particular
The examination of this text corpus, along with other internal sources belonging to the local public sphere, makes it possible to construct an image of the internal workings of a settlement and the dynamics of its power relations that would not otherwise be accessible for study
Summary
The aim of this article is to examine a group of sources that have so far been used only marginally in Hungarian ethnographic research. I point out some opportunities for the interpretation of the minutes of public hearings based on discourse theory, in particular intending to analyze the available text corpus as texts but at the same time as utterances This is important because the specific forum of the public hearing encourages residents to ask questions and express conflicting opinions — to varying degrees depending on the village and the local government. After introducing these three aspects, I present examples from four villages in the Hungarian-Slovenian border area (Orfalu, Kétvölgy, Kondorfa, and Apaistvafalva), illustrating how public hearings are organized, conducted, and recorded.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
