Hungarian Culture Research Articles

A csemege baraboly (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) etnobotanikai és kultúrtörténeti jelentősége a Kárpát-medencében

Tuberous-rooted chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is one of the iconic plants in the Car­pathian basin regarding ethnobotany. It is considered native to this region and it is known by about one hundred different Hungarian folk names and allophones. We have plenty of historical data about its gathering from the wild from the end of the 16th century, but certainly, it could have been collected much earlier by the people who lived here. In the whole Carpathian basin, mostly its tubers (and rarely the leaves as well) were gathered mainly by children, which were eaten in various forms and dishes, but most frequently raw as salad. Its popularity started to decline by the end of the 19th century, and in the middle of the 20th century, it was regarded as one of the ‘beets out of fashion’, which was slowly disappearing from the diet. From the 21st century, there is only one record about its gathering and consumption from Transylvania. In former times, along with other Chaerophyllum and Anthriscus spe­cies it was recommended to cure scorbute and diarrhoea and as a poultice for ulcers. In the Middle Ages, it was cultivated throughout Eastern and Central Europe, which could have also been true for the Carpathian Basin. Master Roger mentioned this species among the plants of devastated peasant gar­dens (1243, after the Mongol invasion). Thereafter, we have records only from the middle of the 19th century showing the obvious growing of its cultivated variety (called ‘chervil-beet’). However, its cultivation remained quite sporadic, and by the middle of the 20th century, it was already fully neglect­ed. The plant occurred in Hungarian cookery books from the 16th century, especially in Transylvanian gastronomy. The remembrance of its former folk uses retained in Hungarian culture as well, it emerges in several poems and prose.

Circulation of books, manuscripts, and ideas between Hungary and Italy. Cultural transfers in the environment of György Klimo, Bishop of Pécs (1751-1777)

The period between 1750 and 1800 witnessed a significant transformation in the modernization of Hungarian culture and literature. The members of the ecclesiastical elite, who had completed their studies at the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum in Rome, played a pivotal role in this process; they emerged as key figures in the Catholic renewal upon their return to Hungary following their studies in Rome. Their contributions extended beyond the revitalization of the Hungarian Catholic Church and religious life, encompassing the reconstruction of bishoprics, the establishment of educational institutions and libraries, and the publication and dissemination of both religious and secular literary works. This dissemination of knowledge was also closely intertwined with the influential court in Vienna. On the one hand, the rich heritage of ancient Rome played a crucial role in reshaping the baroque tradition. High-ranking clerics began to take a keen interest in the historical context of their immediate surroundings, initiating local excavations and conducting research in the Vatican Archives. On the other hand, they were greatly influenced by the vibrant culture of contemporary Rome, including Catholic reform efforts, the patronage of the Roman aristocracy, and the volumes of recent Italian literature. This paper explores the cultural influence of Bishop György Klimo of Pécs through an analysis of his correspondence with members of the ecclesiastical aristocracy in Rome and Vienna. Notably, Klimo made significant contributions to the spreading of Ludovico Antonio Muratori’s ideas in Hungary. He also played a pioneering role in disseminating knowledge by being the first among his contemporaries to open his personal library to the public. Furthermore, he commissioned research at the Vatican to compile a comprehensive history of his diocese. By examining Klimo’s endeavors, we gain valuable insights into the transformative influence of Roman culture on the Baroque tradition in Hungary. Moreover, the analysis sheds light on the distinct and organic development of the Italian line within Hungarian culture.

“Chatty listeners” Listener feedback on language cultivation in Hungarian radio

Language cultivation is an integral part of Hungarian culture, the diversity and complexity of which cannot be compared to that of other countries. Kossuth Radio's programme Édes anyanyelvünk ‘Our Sweet Mother Tongue’ is an important forum for Hungarian language cultivation. Letters sent to the editors from the listeners comprise an instructive document of lay linguistics. In this pilot study, we processed three months' worth of letters, looking for answers to questions about who, what and how they ask, while also examining attitudes towards the mother tongue.

Provenance, technology and possible function of Gáta–Wieselburg vessels from the Trieste Karst (northeastern Italy)

AbstractA few scattered vessels, typologically attributed to the Gáta–Wieselburg culture, are known from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northeastern Italy. This culture spread during the Early Bronze Age (Reinecke Br A1b and A2, 2100–1700/1600 bc) in present‐day eastern Austria, western Hungary and southwestern Slovakia. Rare ceramic artefacts, typically biconical double‐handled jugs with well‐burnished surfaces, have been discovered in caves of the Trieste Karst (Ciclami, Tartaruga, Teresiana and Ossa) and the Natisone Valley (Velika jama). This study aims to outline the technology, provenance and probable use of these rare jugs from the Trieste Karst. Two of these vessels from the Ciclami and Tartaruga caves have been investigated using various destructive and non‐destructive techniques, including optical microscopy, X‐ray computed microtomography and prompt‐gamma activation analysis, and chemically compared to contemporaneous vessels from the core region of the Gáta–Wieselburg culture in Hungary (10 vessels specifically analysed for this project) and earlier Neolithic and Copper Age vessels, likely produced locally in the Karst, Slovenia and Hungary. Based on the obtained results, the investigated Karst vessels were imported. Tentative identification of plant and animal lipids using organic residue analysis (i.e., gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) sheds light on their possible function.

Corruption perception and financial culture in Hungary

This study focuses on the correlation between corruption and financial inclusion using statistical methods. The population studied were the people of Hungary. The organisations publishing the source indices of the study took representative samples of the population. The authors used data available from public sources on the internet for their study. They analysed time series data of two indices of corruption perception and two indices measuring financial culture and inclusion. The data from secondary sources were analysed applying statistical methods. They surveyed the correlation between corruption indices, the connection between the two financial indices and also the links of corruption and financial indices. The findings of the study prove there is a close positive correlation between the indices measuring financial inclusion. The findings of indices measuring corruption are less compatible. Corruption indices relying more on statistics and less on subjective opinions and indices of financial inclusion have also provided positive correlation. Our findings offer practical benefits: corruption sensitivity can not only improve through legal means or by increasing prosperity but also by spreading economic knowledge and providing a larger group of people with access to financial services.

«КОГДА НАРОДЫ, РАСПРИ ПОЗАБЫВ...» (РЕЦЕНЗИЯ НА КНИГУ: «ЧЕРЕЗ ЧУЖОЕ К СВОЕМУ»: ДИАЛОГ РУССКОЙ И ВЕНГЕРСКОЙ КУЛЬТУР / РЕД. М.А. ЛАППО, В.В. МАРОШИ. НОВОСИБИРСК: НОВОСИБИРСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ, 2023. 240 С.)

The article presents a review of the collective monograph Through the Alien to One’s Own: Dialogue of Russian and Hungarian Cultures (2023), which summarizes the research project of the same name. The article notes the contribution of Hungarian and Siberian co-authors to the comparative and imagological study of Russian and European literature, and the diversity of aspects of this study: historical and literary analysis, translation studies, and semiotics of culture. Of particular interest in this context are the parallels found by the researchers in the poetics of S. Voros and O. Mandelstam, F.M. Dostoevsky and L. Krasznahorkai. The book under review is an example of thoughtful research, in the course of which the “alien” is recognized as an integral part of the “one’s own” - the language of world culture. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Review of the Volume Urban Culture and the Modern City, Hungarian Case Studies (2024)

The volume Urban Culture and the Modern City, Hungarian Case Studies collects academic analyses of Hungarian literary representations of space. The studies investigate a historically and culturally varied spectrum of Hungarian literary spaces from Ferenc Molnár’s Budapest, to Géza Ottlik’s use of urban spaces, or to Krúdy’s fumigated small Buda taverns. Theoretically, these are seen from the perspective of the globally well-known and used concepts of the flaneur, of spatial appropriation, or of third space. By this, the collection aims at translating Hungarian culture into the globally understood theoretical language and view of spatiality studies. Consequently, this book fulfils a dual role which posits its studies in both the Hungarian literary critical scenery and in the global, English-speaking scholarship for which the Hungarian literary and cultural material is yet to be learnt. This latter function includes a popularizing mission which this book aptly fulfils.

Reinterpretacja poetyki węgierskiej powieści historycznej w utworach najnowszych

The main idea of the article is the description of selected works which belong to the latest Hungarian historical novels. They are surprising for readers and at the same time constitute a polemic with the genre classics. The best‑known historical novelists ate the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Hungary are: Géza Gárdonyi and Maurycy Jókai. One of the reasons for their popularity is the fact that in their works they mentioned well‑known and at the same time painful events from the history of Hungary. It was the era of Turkish rule and the period of theHungarian Spring of Nations. Other events included the Trianon case, which wasn’t discussed between 1945–1989, the Second World War, and the Hungarian October. The mythic image of national struggle and the fighting Hungarian, which was shaped by Romantic writers, was preserved for a long time in the collective memory of Hungarians. It seemed to have become an indispensable element of national mythology. However, new authors appeared in contemporary Hungarian culture, who made an attempt at the demythification of events that were important for the Hungarian people. Such an attempt seems very interesting and controversial. It is a litmus test for the current state of the collective historical awareness of the nation. New literary works take a different approach to those events which are well‑known to several generations of Hungarians from classical literature. They ask questions about the borders concerning rooted axiological categories and the flexibility of historical thinking. They are also an attempt at a timeless reflection connecting different periods. In Béla Fehér’s book, which was written in the spirit of magical realism, the most popular leader of the Hungarian Spring of Nations – Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894) – quotes the words of Prime Minister Imre Nagy (1896–1958) from the days of the Hungarian October. As for the works which deal with the topic of the two World Wars, they pose questions about the moral value of struggles run on the wrong side in the interest of foreign powers.

Máté Tóth, A könyvtárak társadalmi szerepei empirikus kutatási adatok tükrében, Szentendre, Hamvas Béla Pest Megyei Könyvtár 2022, ss. 193 ISBN 978-963-7521-91-1

The article is a discussion of the Hungarian book by Máté Tóth, a researcher and librarian in Hungary: ”Social Roles of Libraries in the Light of empirical research data” (Szentendre, Hamvas Béla Pest Megyei Könyvtár, 2022), in which he draws attention to the social roles of libraries. The author substantiates the raison of this role with his empirical research. The book is a broad overview of one of the most exciting and much-discussed matters of today's Hungarian culture, the world and role of reading, books, the press, electronic media, mobile phones, the Internet, and comprehensively Hungarian reading culture. The author attempts to prove the legitimacy and social role of libraries based on the statistics, library sociology measurements and empirical research of recent decades.

Interetnické vzťahy v prostredí Rusínov a Slovákov (na Slovensku a na Dolnej zemi) v 19. storočí

Rusyns and Slovaks, members of two culturally close ethnic groups, had lived for centuries in one state unit and in immediate neighbour contact. Complex socio-economic situation of the Rusyn settlement area in Slovakia had conditioned the poor development of both cultural and national needs. Rusyn intelligentsia from Greek-Catholic church circles had tended towards Hungarian culture or a broader Slavic consciousness. From the beginning of the 19th century and during the spread of pan-Slavism with the development of national movements and the formation of modern nations, Rusyns became the object of interest in Slovak intellectual circles. The Rusyn elite, inspired by Slavic and nonSlavic national movements, revived nationally in the revolutionary period of the 1840s. It was also the merit of Slovaks who supported the national awakening of Rusyns as their closest allies in the Kingdom of Hungary during the peak period of the Slovak national revival movement (1836–1848). The mutuality of RusynSlovak political cooperation had been manifested in the revolutionary years of 1948–1949 in the Habsburg Monarchy. Even though the revolution in the Kingdom of Hungary had failed, it had brought some significant changes in the sphere of social development, civil principles and the weakening of the influence of the state and the church. These new conditions had enabled the emergence and development of Rusyn national revival movement and the so-calledrevivalistic generation of Rusyns. Mutual contacts between the two national movements, especially in the post-revolutionary period, had symbolized social, political and literary activities of several nationalities. Even in the second half of the 19th century, Slovak elites had a positive influence on the development of the Rusyn national movement. Slovak environment had an inspiring effect on Rusyns. Of course, this relationship had not only worked from the side of Slovaks to Rusyns, but also in the opposite direction (in a lesser extent), i.e. from Rusyns to Slovaks. Finally, during the period of dualism (1867–1918), the reflection of Rusyn issue in Slovak literature was not as intense as before the revolution, which was related to strong national oppression of minorities by the Hungarian governments. The national movements of Rusyns and Slovaks had to cope with a very complicated political and social reality, so there was much less scope for wider cooperation and mutual reflection than before. Complex socio-economic situation of northern and northeastern Kingdom of Hungary at the end of the 19th century together with the rapidly increasing Slovak and Rusyn emigration had a significant influence on this.

New Challenges and Situation of an Ethnic Minority within a Local Community in the Light of Social Changes

Our memory is largely shaped by the way we look at the peoples currently living within the Carpathian Basin. Once a well-known tobacco-growing village in Historic Hungary, Torda (also known as Torontáltorda in Hungarian) is now a dispersed settlement with a Hungarian ethnic majority located in the Banat region of Vojvodina, Serbia. The shifting of national borders, the two World Wars, the events of the Yugoslav Wars and migratory movements have collectively changed and decimated the lives of Hungarians who had found themselves outside their motherland’s borders after the 1920s. In spite of the decline in population, the emigration of young people, and the everyday struggles resulting from hard living conditions, this village in the Central Banat district could attract further socio-ethnographic interest. In the micro-communities of rural settlements, education and religion play a key role in creating social value, maintaining Hungarian culture in the area and forming a national, local sense of identity within the community. Commemorative rituals, local traditions and national holidays often cross each others’ paths and blend together through education and religion, highlighting the reality and cultural values of the community, as well as the array of connections between community life and ethnic culture. This study discusses Torda’s present in the light of social change and the process of cultural mapping, touching on the importance of the local cultural association in the community’s life. This study also explores the events of the past few decades that have left a deep imprint on the micro-community’s life in a cultural, social and ethnic sense.

Hungarian Diaspora in Sydney

Focusing on the Hungarian diaspora in Sydney, Australia, this paper finds that the key to preserving the Hungarian identity of emigrants and their descendants is maintaining and cultivating Hungarian traditions. Some institutions and organizations, such as Hungarian schools and the Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris, can help in this regard. To examine this topic, I conducted a pilot study asking the following questions: (1) What are the main elements of Hungarian identity in the diaspora? and (2) What is the main role that Hungarian scouts and other organizations play in preserving Hungarian identity? In the first part of the research, the most prominent people of the Hungarian diaspora in Sydney, Australia were interviewed. The interviews showed that Hungarian scouting plays a crucial role in the survival of Hungarian culture and community, which was reflected linguistically too. Subsequently, I conducted a questionnaire survey, whose results also confirmed that scouting is both an element of and a tool for Hungarian identity construction. Some key elements of identity, according to the respondents—language, culture, holidays, and community—are clearly included in scouting. The results also suggest that support for Hungarian emigrant organizations can be an effective way to maintain national identity. constantinovits.kinga.katalin@hallgato.ppke.hu

Multilingualism, culture, museum learning

AbstractLanguage difficulties can be a problem for foreign students studying in Hungary: they see as Hungarians do not speak foreign languages, which hinders the well-being of foreigners. At the same time, students studying at Hungarian universities also have different cultural expectations: it is important for them to gain cultural experiences, expand their knowledge of Hungarian culture and history. Classical public cultural institutions, such as museums, can be perfect places to learn about the culture and history of a country.The aim of this study is to introduce our research findings whether foreigner students studying at the University of Szeged have to face these problems. Our goal is to find out how important it is to them to get to know Hungarian culture, and whether they think about museums from this point of view and what kinds of language barriers do they have. In our study, we present the results of focus group research with foreign students studying at the University of Szeged.The results show that the students who took part in the research had language difficulties in Hungary which has affected their knowledge of Hungarian culture and history. They don't usually go to museums to gain more information but they think museums can be great places for this purpose although the students have problems with museums' multilingual aspects.We have come to the conclusion that foreign students are interested in Hungarian culture but the language barriers are building walls between them and the museums.

The Transformation of Kitsch Culture in Hungary: From the Pre­ and Post­Communist Era to EU Accession

Kitsch culture is a type of popular culture. In Hungary, kitsch culture emerged in the late 19th century and became increasingly popular in the early 20th century. In Hungary, kitsch culture was especially popular among the working class and peasants. Kitsch culture offered a way to escape the drudgery of life and imagine a better world, and it provided a sense of community and belonging. Of course, kitsch culture was also popular among the bourgeoisie, but they saw it as a way to express their patriotism and loyalty to the Hungarian state. The period from the late 1950s to the early 1970s is considered the golden age of Hungarian kitsch culture. This was due to the rise of socialist realism, the official art style of the communist regime after World War II. Socialist realism is characterized by realism and a focus on social issues, and the Hungarian communist regime used art as a means of propaganda, encouraging artists to create works that promoted socialist ideals and values, such as collective farming and industrialization. As such, Hungarian kitsch art was often used to promote the ideology of the communist regime and glorify party leaders. Kitsch culture in Hungary began to decline after the fall of communism in 1989, as the country's political and social landscape changed: Hungary began to move away from Soviet influence, and the government became more open to Western ideas and culture. Kitsch culture became popular again in Hungary in the 2000s, partly because many Hungarians felt nostalgic for the communist era, and partly because kitsch culture provided a way to express individuality and creativity in a society still in transition. In other words, Hungarian kitsch culture was revived by a number of factors, including nostalgia, globalization, and Hungary's accession to the European Union, and it has continued to evolve and adapt to changing cultural and social trends. An important aspect of kitsch culture during this period was the rise of nostalgia for the communist era. This growing nostalgia for the past has led to a renewed interest in the socialist era, including kitsch culture. Therefore, this article examines the history and development of Hungarian kitsch culture and how it continues to shape the self-identity of Hungarians today after Hungary's accession to the European Union.

Was the Tale a Women's Genre? Tellers, Collectors, and Writers of Tales in 19th-Century Hungary

AbstractIn 1858 a leading Hungarian literary critic as well as collector and editor of folk poetry started a debate about the possible literary career of women, arguing that literature and other forms of public artistic activity are fields that should not be open to women as it may cause serious moral and social problems. Yet, he noted that in case women still insist on becoming literary authors, they should turn only to certain genres, such as tales. The article investigates how the tale became a gendered genre, and presents women tellers, collectors and writers of tales as well as the diverse ways they were represented in Hungarian culture in the 19th century.

On Song Dictation and Their Texts in the Village of Shalanky (Transcarpathia)

The present paper examines a novel aspect of folk literacy within the ethnographical research, in particular to a separate genre of oral folk art, which is an organic component of modern Ukrainian and Hungarian cultures. The focus of the study is written sources from the village of Shalanky (Berehove District, Transcarpathia), as well as from some other areas of the former Hungarian historical region of Ugocsa. The collection entitled The Book for Funeral Ceremonies (Halottas alkalmakra készített és írott könyv) is presented in four copies, each containing songs for a funeral ceremony. The main occasions for recitative singing are, on the one hand, church events, divine services, and, on the other, funerals and commemorations. For the latter, there were prepared, in the Reformed communities, separate handwritten songbooks titled The Book-Collection of Funeral Songs, or The Book, Prepared and Written to Honour the dead. Currently, more than ten manuscripts have been collected in the studied region. Information about their use and purpose, the role in the life of a community can be obtained from narrations of informants. The oldest collection was compiled in the 1880s. The books contain only the texts that provide a decent burial of the dead. For burial, a cantor (singer) selects suitable songs by age, sex, ecclesiastical order of the deceased, etc. Most manuscripts have a similar structure; we can also find much in common in the subjects of song texts. In general, as already noted, the content of each manuscript is divided into ten sections, the songs are mainly grouped by age. Until recently, in the communities surveyed, there was a custom of so-called song dictation (recitative). Community members have different views on its decline. The older generation prefers recitative, while young people prefer rhythmic singing and new songs. However, the fact is that the song dictation was a characteristic sign of both the Reformed divine services and the Hungarian identity. It also had a moral content in relations between members of a community. Our duty is to show and preserve this custom!

Language and National Identity Acquired through Culture

The “language” career of Ferenc Herczeg in a nutshell is: how the German speaking boy from the Banat Swabian region (today in Romania) became the Hungarian playwright who put Hungarian drama on the path to European success. He was a committed writer of national endeavors and the creator of successful Hungarian prose and dramatic oeuvre. The subject of the research is to explain how Ferenc Herczeg’s “language program” became so successful since: “There was no other foreign speaker who learned Hungarian as well as Ferenc Herczeg” (Hegedűs). Examining the language path, research may explain the adaptation considered to be the key to success and the contribution of the author’s bilingualism to the foundation of success. In the case of Herczeg, social, cultural, and linguistic assimilation was so successful that it gave rise to countless speculations. The majority of the criticism seeks the social adaptation and reflects less on linguistic assimilation. The item to prove is that Herczeg, a German speaking boy of Swabian decent, became Hungarian because of literature-centric Hungarian culture.

Hungarian-Romanian transcultural relations during the Middle Ages and the reformation

AbstractIt was in the Latin-language historical literature of medieval and Renaissance Hungary that the noble ideology was first formulated which has determined the discourse on Hungarian national and literary consciousness up to the present day. These chronicles, however, contain a great deal of information not only about the Hungarians, but also about the peoples who lived alongside them. Thus, Romanians are also important figures in this Latin-language historical literature. In the first part of this study we will discuss the depiction of the Romanians in Anonymus' and Simon Kézai's Chronicles, the Illustrated Chronicle and Antonio Bonfini's monumental work. In the second part of the study I will describe the influence of the Hungarian Reformation literature of the 16th and 17th centuries on Romanian literature. From a Hungarian perspective, the Romanian Reformation is worth studying because it is a clear demonstration of Hungarian “cultural imperialism” in the 16th to 18th centuries, so much so that Hungarian culture has been unable to repeat cultural export on such a scale ever since. This means that between 1540 and 1750 there was no other language into which so many Hungarian-language ecclesiastical works (catechisms, psalms, hymns, postulates, agendas, piety works) were translated as Romanian. In other words, no other culture has been so powerfully influenced by a Hungarian impact as was Romanian culture during these two centuries.

PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD THROUGH MUSIC EDUCATION

The study focuses on a small but important segment of Hungarian culture, the musical education of children aged 3-7. Its central theme is to examine how the adaptation of folk games and related movements can be one of the most complex developmental forces in the personality development of this age group. This is because this period is fundamental in terms of cultural transmission and plays an integrative role in aesthetic education. As the pre-school child develops musically, his or her memory, imagination, associative abilities, creativity, attention and interest are constantly being developed through joyful activity, since his or her movements in connection with folk play are not yet guided and determined by the meaning and content of the text, but by the melody and its rhythm and the spontaneous feeling of joy associated with them. The role of musical education, and within it of folk games, is also evident in the process of emotional education, socialisation, intellectual development and language development. The links examined and presented demonstrate that folk games help children to develop skills that will enable them to become school-ready and to continue to develop in adult life.

The ambiguities and contradictions of the state-socialist way of women’s emancipation in Hungary (1948-1989). Overview and search for the traces of feminist resistance

The literature about the ex-state-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe raised the questions in what way women benefited from the legislation guaranteeing equal rights and the measures of emancipation during the decades of state socialism. The authors that also argued after 1990, the time of the social, economic and political transitions in the region, that women became the big losers of the changes. The paper aims to reflect on these examinations of gender relations during the state-socialist period and point out the contradictory ways of the introduction of women?s emancipation that led to ambiguous results in the propagated program of gender equality. Furthermore it discusses in which ways women?s positions remained subordinated and how the sexist representations of women increased in public life, the media and culture in Hungary after the 1970?s. A review of the main findings of earlier research accumulated so far concerning women?s lifes and gender relations in Hungary during state socialism will be followed by the question of in what ways these controversies of the system were articulated by the contemporary oppositional voices. Did the activists of the dissident Hungarian democratic opposition embrace the ideas of feminism and women?s issues in their criticism of the one-party system? On the base of contemporary documents and recent interviews with ex-activists it will be examined how feminist voices were articulated, yet controversially marginalized among the dissidents.