Weaponized longing

Abstract

In this article, by analyzing the memory politics of the nativist Hungarian government, it is argued that instead of some Great Narrative about a Golden Age, a political patchwork is in work here. Instead of glorifying one particular historical period, any element used for the constructions of “Greatness” and “Proudness” is used freely. Then I explain the peculiarities of the Hungarian case: that is, Orbán builds a nativist, anti-European, and anti-enlightenment symbolic universe, whereas Hungary is a member of the EU and even heavily subsidized by it. Afterward, using the foundational text of the regime, I explain how central nostalgia, what in this context I call weaponized longing, is for the Orbán regime. Since there is neither specific political Golden Age nor obvious historic victories, the memory of sports successes becomes relevant constructing the memory of greatness. Therefore, in the next part, I illustrate how Orbán uses the sport to articulate and implement a macho worldview and formulate a nativist discourse on a wide variety of seemingly non-sport-related issues from the essence of modernity to gender roles. Then I explain that sport is not just a tool for Orbán, but in fact, a basic model and metaphor for his politics where “Triumph of the Will” is central. Finally, with the juxtaposition of two seminal institutions, the House of Terror and Cult of Puskás, I demonstrate the memory political endeavors of the regime and some of the built-in contradictions that come with these practices. In this nativist patchwork, the seemingly impossible could be achieved; the darkest times could produce the most glorious elements of history.