Past Abstracts
1,037 abstracts found
…lenn a porban / emlékestül…Az emberi létezés értékei és korlátozott lehetőségei…
Language/LiteratureJékelynél az idő, a szerelem, a halál mindig központi kérdés volt. A köznapi élet mögött mindegyre az elmúlást fedezi fela költő. Az ünnepelt színésznő arcán a halál árnyékát látja, a rádióból kiszűrődő éneket hallgatva a végleges elnémulásra gondol s megírja a Caruso emlékének című remekét, a folyón sodródó rönkök az örök alámerülést juttatják eszébe. A szerelem önfeledt perceiben is a majdani elmúlásra kell eszmélnie:
Az életműben sajátos feszültség jön létre a szorongásos képzeletet és az ellenőrzést gyakorló értelem között. A fantázia sorra felrajzolja az elmúlás következményeit, félelemre és önsajnálatra indítja az izgatott szívet, az értelem viszont kérdőjeleket rak a szomorú képek után, idézőjelbe teszi a félelmet és az önsajnálatot. Ennek a feszültségnek feloldása az irónia. S miközben meg akarja érteni a történelmi gondokat és választ keres magában az emberi létezés kérdéseire és korlátozott voltára, ugyanakkor gondolati és érzelmi tekintetben egyaránt küzd a végső reménytelenség ellen.
Az életműben sajátos feszültség jön létre a szorongásos képzeletet és az ellenőrzést gyakorló értelem között. A fantázia sorra felrajzolja az elmúlás következményeit, félelemre és önsajnálatra indítja az izgatott szívet, az értelem viszont kérdőjeleket rak a szomorú képek után, idézőjelbe teszi a félelmet és az önsajnálatot. Ennek a feszültségnek feloldása az irónia. S miközben meg akarja érteni a történelmi gondokat és választ keres magában az emberi létezés kérdéseire és korlátozott voltára, ugyanakkor gondolati és érzelmi tekintetben egyaránt küzd a végső reménytelenség ellen.
‘A Pot is Not a Person’ and other Adages from the Ground Up
History/Political ScienceFor nearly one hundred years, Hungary’s exploration of ancient nomadism has been energized by the discovery of a pair of singular gold stags from two disturbed and isolated Carpathian sites. However, given the compromised circumstances of the discoveries at Tapioszentmarton and Zoldhalompuszta and the continued paucity of reconstructive data, efforts by twentieth century Hungarian archeologists and historians to contextualize and integrate with similar Iron Age material associated with Black Sea Scythians remain stymied. This paper pits old methodologies and approaches against new investigative theories that can circumvent forced assumptions and nationalistic presumptions that compromise assessment of Hungary’s own Scythian era finds.
‘Az amerikai város’: Framing Kosztolányi’s (1885-1936) View of American Literature: The Influence of Joseph Reményi (1892-1956)
Language/LiteratureKosztolányi and Reményi’s views about America, along with that of other intellectuals of their generation, provide a window into the prevailing perspective of Hungarians about Americans and American Literature in the early 20th century. Did the sweeping Hungarian belief of the American obsession with money, the “dollár láz,” as depicted in Reményi’s autobiographical novel "Emberek, ne sírjatok" (Berlin, 1926), which Kosztolányi reviewed in one of his literary essays (1927), play a part in numerous references in Kosztolányi’s own writings? Kosztolányi, who translated American writers such as Poe, Emerson, Longfellow, Whitman, Wilder, and reviewed dramatists such as Eugene O’Neill, had befriended Reményi in the 1920s. Kosztolányi’s short stories have American characters, and he more than once mentions Cleveland, Ohio. How would he have known of these places and peoples other than via Reményi’s influence? Reményi wrote disparagingly not just about Americans but also about the Cleveland Hungarian Americans of the first decades of the 20th century for their shallowness, materialism, and indiscriminate imitation of European culture. Kosztolányi’s views, however, evolved over the decades, passing from a relatively negative assessment of Americans and American literature, to America as the place for innovation and experimentation, a place for a new start influenced by Italian futurism (e.g., speed, technology, youth. . .) which urged throwing off the shackles of the past. In this paper, the presenter proposes to resurrect Reményi from literary oblivion and to restore his place in a literary golden age alongside of Kosztolányi and the Nyugat generation.
‘De ma már úgy isznak, mint az apjuk’: A Pilot Qualitative Study of Hungarian-American Women and Alcohol Use
Cultural Studies/ArtsHungary has one of the highest rates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and rates of mortality from liver cirrhosis in the world. Research shows there is a correlation between AUD and intergenerational trauma across all cultures, yet there is little research that assesses the impact of intergenerational trauma within the Hungarian-American community and how it contributes to AUD. Given the impact of Hungary’s historical events such as the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Treaty of Trianon, and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, this is a critical issue. Furthermore, rates of AUD continue to rise in women, yet this is largely unexplored in Hungarian-American women. This pilot project explores how Hungarian-American women’s perceptions of alcohol use, misuse, and disorder may be shaped by intergenerational trauma, as well as Hungarians’ cultural practices around alcohol. These customs include the portrayal of alcohol as medicine, the omnipresence of alcohol in childhood, drinking as a social activity, and the overall normalization of alcohol in everyday life. Furthermore, these perceptions may be shaped by the extreme portrayals of AUD in Hungary, as well as gender roles surrounding alcohol. As consumption of alcohol continues to rise in women, future research must investigate Hungarian-American women’s potential increased risk of AUD, as well as culturally relevant clinical interventions.
‘First in the History of the World’ − Júlia Hajdu (1925–1987), Career of the first ever woman operetta composer
Music/FolkloreThe object of this presentation is the career of Júlia Hajdu, the only Hungarian woman operetta composer. Musical history worldwide and in Hungary is not abundant in women composers, most of them are treated badly by the canon, although their pieces are valuable and worth researching. Júlia Hajdu (1925–1987) composed in several genres during her rich creative career, such genres included dance songs, operetta, revue, dance suit, and background music. Alongside composing, Júlia was an excellent piano player. Her masters at the Music Academy were Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) and György Ránki (1907–1992), the latter composed operettas himself. Júlia Hajdu studied folk music with Kodály and jazz arrangements with Ránki. Her peers and critics said she was one of this genre's most well-known and popular composers. She worked in popular music programs of the Hungarian Television, moreover, she accompanied Hanna Honthy on the piano. Júlia marks hundreds of dance songs, revues, and dance suites, as well as fourteen operettas, including radio and television operettas. Her creative career is interpreted in the context of socialist cultural policy and giving context to Júlia’s work is not simply another reconstruction of an operetta composer but a mirror of a certain era. However, she had to compromise on several occasions, for which she accounted her trying to succeed in different cultural areas dominated by men. I have concluded the reconstruction of her career based on different narrative patterns, therefore, I am discussing Hajdu’s way of life along the following three narratives: 1. ‘woman composer as a sensation’ narrative, 2. ‘Who’s whose student?’ narrative, as well as 3.‘background specialist’ narrative.
‘Image Architecture’ to Camouflage: Lajos Kassák and György Kepes
Cultural Studies/ArtsLajos Kassák’s contribution to the various Avant-Garde movements of the 1920s and ‘30s has received a wide scholarly attention. As a poet, writer, painter, and typographer Kassák’s name has been closely related to movements such as Dada, Constructivism, and the Bauhaus – just to mention a few. In this paper I would like to use Lajos Kassák’s concept of “image architecture” as a vantage point and trace out his influence on György Kepes’s investigations into human perception and, in an indirect way, on his innovations in urban camouflage during World War II.
Unlike Malevich and Tatlin, whose strength-lines, forms, and colors correlate with notions, Kassák used notions as platforms for his image-architecture so that they would serve as visual mappings to his poetic experiments, demonstrated by his his 1925 book entitled Tisztaság Könyve (Book of Cleanliness).
György Kepes participated in Kassák’s workshop (Munka-kör) in the late 1920s which would later inform his earlier carrier in the New Bauhaus in Chicago. World War II was already in full swing when he directed the Camouflage Program between 1941-1942 under the auspices of the National Defense Program. The Camouflage Program, which ensued from the Light and Color Workshop, involved all static and mobile aspects of vision in a holistic method, in line with Bauhaus principles. In 1944, when the first air raids against industrial targets in Budapest took place Kepes’s emblematic book, The Language of Vision was published, which incorporates his findings in the field of perception and camouflage.
Beyond highlighting Kassák’s influence on Kepes’s early work, my goal is to identify interrelations between Kepes’s breakthrough investigation into the dynamics of human perception (architectural space, light, shadow, color) and Kassák’s image architecture (textual space, typography). Through this comparative approach I hope to offer new a new context in which to discuss Kepes’s notions of perception and camouflage
Unlike Malevich and Tatlin, whose strength-lines, forms, and colors correlate with notions, Kassák used notions as platforms for his image-architecture so that they would serve as visual mappings to his poetic experiments, demonstrated by his his 1925 book entitled Tisztaság Könyve (Book of Cleanliness).
György Kepes participated in Kassák’s workshop (Munka-kör) in the late 1920s which would later inform his earlier carrier in the New Bauhaus in Chicago. World War II was already in full swing when he directed the Camouflage Program between 1941-1942 under the auspices of the National Defense Program. The Camouflage Program, which ensued from the Light and Color Workshop, involved all static and mobile aspects of vision in a holistic method, in line with Bauhaus principles. In 1944, when the first air raids against industrial targets in Budapest took place Kepes’s emblematic book, The Language of Vision was published, which incorporates his findings in the field of perception and camouflage.
Beyond highlighting Kassák’s influence on Kepes’s early work, my goal is to identify interrelations between Kepes’s breakthrough investigation into the dynamics of human perception (architectural space, light, shadow, color) and Kassák’s image architecture (textual space, typography). Through this comparative approach I hope to offer new a new context in which to discuss Kepes’s notions of perception and camouflage
‘It’s like I have a switch’: Identity Shift in a Hungarian English Major from Vajdaság
Education/Social SciencesProceeding from work by Bruner (1987) and Fougère (2008) on the construction of identity through self-narrative, the paper will present findings from a longitudinal study of a Vajdaság/Vojvodina Hungarian student in/graduate of a BA programme in English Studies at the University of Szeged. The participant represents an especially salient group for Hungarian higher education, and for the University of Szeged in particular, due to its ever increasing number (Kincses & Nagy, 2019). Two semi-structured interviews over two years apart provide rich and nuanced signs of numerous aspects of identity change. Themes explored in the data include: sensemaking (the process of an ever changing understanding of an ever changing identity); a sense of belonging with a focus on insideness and outsideness, competence and role fulfilment, and centre and periphery dynamics; questioning and learning about the self; and development and change, including heterotopias and the ‘third space’, and dwelling in-between. The findings may well have implications for foreign language learners, teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, educational policymakers, coursebook and other materials designers and anyone involved in the foreign language learning and teaching enterprise, which is by definition an experience marked – and enriched – by multiple cultural and linguistic identities.
‘Ölelem a Térded!’ I Hug Your Knees (Not Kiss Your Hand!): Béla Zerkovitz, Dezső Kosztolányi, and Joséphine Baker
Cultural Studies/ArtsFrom dirt-poor beginnings in early 20th century racist America, African American cabaret performer Joséphine Baker rose to heights of global fame in interwar Europe, taking Paris by storm, later bedazzling the rest of Europe including two visits to Hungary. In 1928, this “Bronze Venus” was almost banned by the Hungarian Conservative Party, but after being screened before the police committee, her show was a huge success at the Orfeum Theatre in Budapest. According to a contemporary account from TIME Magazine, a Hungarian cavalry officer behaved too amorously, displeasing the Italian “Count” serving as her manager who challenged the officer to a sword-fighting duel. They met in a cemetery while Baker cheered from atop a tombstone. During her second Budapest visit, a young fan, hopelessly in love with Baker, shot himself after one of her concerts. Kosztolányi wrote a glowing article about her in the Pesti Hirlap. Béla Zerkovitz’ internationally renowned hit song, “Gyere Jozefin. . . ölelem a térded,” appears in the musical comedy Csókos Asszony/Kissing Lady, still regularly performed in the 21st century, though most spectators are clueless regarding the origin of the song. Despite her success as a Jazz Age mega-star, her worldwide performances were denounced as animalistic. Condemned as a primitive threat to civilization, still, she played to full houses who found her fascinating and amusing. This paper argues that Hungary was not isolated in post WWI European malaise, and by embracing Baker, who symbolized the Other of urban interwar European modernity, the country sought to evoke “metropolitan” or “European” culture and transform its capital city into a cosmopolitan metropolis.
‘Páris felett a furcsán elborult hajnal. . .’: Radnóti and his French Connections
Language/LiteratureIn abundant biographies, Miklós Radnóti, one of the greatest Hungarian poets of the 20th century, very little concrete scholarship has appeared on the influence on his oeuvre of French authors, or his visits to Paris (1931, 1937, 1939). The Colonial Exposition of 1931 and the waning years of Parisian “negrophilia” even turned his attention toward African cultures, an interest that he maintained throughout his life, as evidenced by his eventual (1934) translation of a series of African folk tales: Karunga a holtak ura. Néger legendák. In 1930, Radnóti had enrolled at Szeged University, majoring in Hungarian and French. While his PhD was on Margit Kaffka, his early influences included French symbolists Baudelaire and Verlaine. His translations from French on the works of La Fontaine and Montherlant were an influence on his literary development. In his 1934 essay, he discusses French “exoticists” including Apollinaire and Blaise Cendrars. While works such as his lyrical “Juliusi vers” (1931) date from his first Paris trip, his return trip in 1937 was to a very different Paris: he experienced first-hand public demonstrations in the streets and anxieties stemming from the Spanish Civil War next door. Living in the Hôtel des Trois Collèges across from the Sorbonne during the summers of 1937 and 1939, he recalls this period in his poem “Paris” (1943). A commemorative plaque by the hotel entrance celebrates the memory of Radnóti with a quotation from his “Hispánia, Hispánia”: “Népek kiáltják sorsodat, szabadság! ma délután is érted szállt az ének.” This paper seeks to add nuances to the intense and moving poetic production of a poet’s idyllic world eventually colliding violently with tragic socio-political realities and pain in his verses that reflect the horror and suffering caused by Nazi persecution unleashed in particular against people of Jewish heritage.
’Inter-Line Education’ © – At the Digital Classroom
Education/Social SciencesThis presentation is about an innovative method of teaching languages for students between ages of 12-19 in Australia, called ’Inter-Line Education’ ©. This method crosses the cultural boundaries of teaching in a traditional classroom setting and online. Contrasting to studying from prerecorded theory material, this method aims to create a real-time education space, where-by tutorials take place with students at the same time with their teacher through Skype or other video call conference programs, engaging in practical tasks based on the subject material. There are multiple case studies about online teaching. However these studies rarely explore real-time online education. The techniques used in ’Inter-Line Education’ © were developed by the presenter over the last 8 years, successfully ensuring 17 students to matriculate from the Hungarian language in Australia, with results sitting at an average of 87/100 in the students’ ATAR results, in the Nationally Assessed Hungarian Language, Continuous Level. While the students are physically isolated, the observation has been that the graduates of these programs form life-long friendships. The online classes still require the students to work in teams, as well as working in pairs and alone to complete tasks, which creates a sense of belonging, rather than passive co-presence. The presenter argues that the teaching tools developed in the ’Inter-Line Education’ © method helped create a sense of well-being in the students, which has contributed to the students inviting their friends to the course, without any pressure from their parents.
“A Considerable Degree of Beauty”: Nickolas Muray’s Photography
Cultural Studies/ArtsThe photographer Nickolas Muray (1892-1965) occupies a lesser-known place in the pantheon of famous 20th century Hungarian emigré photographers. While other Hungarians, including Kertész, Capa, Munkácsi and Moholy-Nagy, still enjoy celebrity status, Muray’s work has remained relatively obscure. He enjoyed a notably successful lifelong career, both as a portrait photographer and as an innovator in the development of color photography and its commercial applications.
Born in Szeged in 1892, Muray emigrated to the US in 1913. Once he began working in New York City, he became an active participant in the lively group of Hungarian expatriate Greenwich Village artists in the 1920’s.
His early photographic work brought him great success. Vanity Fair magazine frequently commissioned him to make portraits of well known contemporary subjects, including dignitaries both in the US and abroad, writers, artists, dancers and actors from stage and screen, including Hollywood stars.
He traveled to Mexico in the 1930’s. where he met Frida Kahlo. Their clandestine love affair lasted over 30 years. His portraits of the now iconic artist Frida are among his finest and best known works.
Nickolas Muray’s contributions to the field of photography are now long overdue and deserving of re-evaluation.
Born in Szeged in 1892, Muray emigrated to the US in 1913. Once he began working in New York City, he became an active participant in the lively group of Hungarian expatriate Greenwich Village artists in the 1920’s.
His early photographic work brought him great success. Vanity Fair magazine frequently commissioned him to make portraits of well known contemporary subjects, including dignitaries both in the US and abroad, writers, artists, dancers and actors from stage and screen, including Hollywood stars.
He traveled to Mexico in the 1930’s. where he met Frida Kahlo. Their clandestine love affair lasted over 30 years. His portraits of the now iconic artist Frida are among his finest and best known works.
Nickolas Muray’s contributions to the field of photography are now long overdue and deserving of re-evaluation.
“How Many Roads Must a Man Walk Down?” – Individual Lives Examined Through the Lens of Economic and Political Transitions in Hungary in the 20th Century
History/Political ScienceBased on the study of Virág Rab, I further examine the economic and political transitions of Hungary during the 20th century through the viewpoint of the individual. In my study, I would like to present the effects of political and economic transitions on the lives of the individuals, with specific focus on the problems of starting a life over again.
Through the lives if István Bibó (1911-1979) a prominent Hungarian politician and internationally recognized political theorist, Béla Király (1912-2009), a chief colonel and politician well-known in the USA, and finally, through the turns of the life of a common man, I will examine the impact of such large scale tranitions on the lives of contemporary individuals.
Through the lives if István Bibó (1911-1979) a prominent Hungarian politician and internationally recognized political theorist, Béla Király (1912-2009), a chief colonel and politician well-known in the USA, and finally, through the turns of the life of a common man, I will examine the impact of such large scale tranitions on the lives of contemporary individuals.
“It’s Not Enough To Have Talent”: Hungarian Women Emigré Designers
Cultural Studies/ArtsDuring the first half of the 20th century, many Hungarians from the professional communities such as science and the arts emigrated to the United States. The catastrophic events following following WWI, WWII and the Hungarian Revolution caused such a transformational dislocation in society, that normal professional life became impossible. Many of these emigres worked in creative fields of film, art, writing, and music. The dominance of Hungarians in the film industry in the 1930’s and 40’s was reflected in an often quoted sign posted on a director’s door:” It’s not enough to be Hungarian, one must also have talent”. Another director wryly turned it around and said “it’s not enough to have talent, one must also be Hungarian”.
A look at any list of famous Hungarian émigrés active in the arts will invariably show that the most of the entries will be men. In fact, very few women are ever included, aside from a few screen actresses,. A question can then be asked, is it possible that there were no Hungarian émigré women active in the arts? If there were, who were they and where were they?
This paper will highlight some of the best known women artists and designers from post WWI to the present. Born into an era of great turmoil, these women were able to transcend circumstance and build very successful professional lives. Women who will be discussed are:Illonka and Mariska Karasz, Sibyl Moholy-Nagy,, Evelyn Harasty, Evelyn Domjan and Eva Zeisel.
A look at any list of famous Hungarian émigrés active in the arts will invariably show that the most of the entries will be men. In fact, very few women are ever included, aside from a few screen actresses,. A question can then be asked, is it possible that there were no Hungarian émigré women active in the arts? If there were, who were they and where were they?
This paper will highlight some of the best known women artists and designers from post WWI to the present. Born into an era of great turmoil, these women were able to transcend circumstance and build very successful professional lives. Women who will be discussed are:Illonka and Mariska Karasz, Sibyl Moholy-Nagy,, Evelyn Harasty, Evelyn Domjan and Eva Zeisel.
“Jews,” “Hungarians,” “Hungarian Jews”
History/Political ScienceI would like to give a short overview about the history of the relationship between the Jews and non-Jews in Hungary. I will tell how Jews were looked upon by non-Jews in the different periods of the twentieth century. I try to make a difference between the official attitude of various political regimes and the attitude of the general public. Through the twentieth century Jews were considered alternately as members of a denomination, as members of a distinct race, as members of an ethnic group, or their group identity was totally ignored.
“Meeting of Worlds, Melting of Cultures” — A journey from East to West
Cultural Studies/ArtsThis presentation aims to provide an insight into how an Eastern European journalist and professor’s way of thinking and story meets the Canadian culture and academic practice at universities while teaching different courses in journalism and political science.
While in Hungary, the constitutional system and the rule of law were weakened following the last elections of 2010, and the system of checks and balances has almost ceased to exist, the freedoms of speech and expression are continuously challenged and suppressed; the fundamental rights and freedoms —especially the freedom of assembly and opinion— have been thought to be subdued in Canada following the G20 Summit of 2010 in Toronto and the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot.
While teaching journalism ethics and theory of radio and television at different universities in Ottawa and Toronto, students and professors often claim that the incumbent party in Canada has already launched an attack against fundamental freedoms. During lectures and class debates, two different worlds and different experiences met each other and generated heated discussion about where the point of no return lies in a democracy. According to some stereotypes, Canadians are forbearing citizens and Hungarians are said to be warm-blooded, yet every lecture and debate proves that both Canadian born students and first generation immigrants to Canada have learnt the same lesson. In Canada, from the very first moments, the country makes her citizens able to protect democracy and not to accept harm on freedom. The Hungarian example reveals the fact that a newborn democracy can easily be the victim of social instability, political populism, and apathy, while a country over the Atlantic enables her citizens to safeguard freedom. The experience of witnessing how Canadian professors and students learnt the lesson about functional multiculturalism and different ethnic groups’ peaceful coexistence evokes opposite sentiments back in Hungary. Besides teaching the compulsory curriculum, differing backgrounds and understandings come face-to-face, resulting in the melting of different cultures and the emergence of the very same democratic ethos.
This journey of a Hungarian immigrant is an apparent demonstration of mutual understanding and interaction between contrasting cultures and experiences.
While in Hungary, the constitutional system and the rule of law were weakened following the last elections of 2010, and the system of checks and balances has almost ceased to exist, the freedoms of speech and expression are continuously challenged and suppressed; the fundamental rights and freedoms —especially the freedom of assembly and opinion— have been thought to be subdued in Canada following the G20 Summit of 2010 in Toronto and the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot.
While teaching journalism ethics and theory of radio and television at different universities in Ottawa and Toronto, students and professors often claim that the incumbent party in Canada has already launched an attack against fundamental freedoms. During lectures and class debates, two different worlds and different experiences met each other and generated heated discussion about where the point of no return lies in a democracy. According to some stereotypes, Canadians are forbearing citizens and Hungarians are said to be warm-blooded, yet every lecture and debate proves that both Canadian born students and first generation immigrants to Canada have learnt the same lesson. In Canada, from the very first moments, the country makes her citizens able to protect democracy and not to accept harm on freedom. The Hungarian example reveals the fact that a newborn democracy can easily be the victim of social instability, political populism, and apathy, while a country over the Atlantic enables her citizens to safeguard freedom. The experience of witnessing how Canadian professors and students learnt the lesson about functional multiculturalism and different ethnic groups’ peaceful coexistence evokes opposite sentiments back in Hungary. Besides teaching the compulsory curriculum, differing backgrounds and understandings come face-to-face, resulting in the melting of different cultures and the emergence of the very same democratic ethos.
This journey of a Hungarian immigrant is an apparent demonstration of mutual understanding and interaction between contrasting cultures and experiences.
“Nem sokat tud csinálni?” A nyelv megőrzésének lehetőségei szórvány- és diaszpóraközösségekben
Language/LiteratureA nyelv és az identitás kapcsolata sokféle lehet. Az identitás megőrzésének gyakorlata közösségenként és családonként is eltér. A legtöbb modellnek része azonban a szülők, nagyszülők nyelvének megőrzése: olyan érték, amiért érdemes erőfeszítéseket tenni. Előadásomban arra a kérdésre igyekszem megtalálni a választ, hogyan segítheti az alkalmazott nyelvészet ezeket a törekvéseket, és mit jelent a származásnyelvi szemlélet.
Amikor kétnyelvűségről beszélünk, az egyén nyelvhasználata szempontjából írjuk le tapasztalatainkat. A közösségi és az oktatási feladatok meghatározása szempontjából azonban érdemes megvizsgálni a származásnyelvi szemlélet nyújtotta lehetőségeket is, hogy a hétvégi és délutáni magyar iskolák diákjainak és önkéntes tanárainak is segítséget nyújthassunk.
A magyarul tanuló magyar származású diákok nyelvtudása olyan mintázatot mutat, amelynek leírása segítheti oktatásuk hatékonyságának növelését. Sokan a magyarországi tanulókhoz hasonlónak tekintik őket, máskor éppen ellenkezőleg történik a besorolás: haladó szintű külföldi nyelvtanulók között találjuk őket. Nehéz feladatot jelent számukra mindkét csoporthoz tartozás. Az előbbiben komoly gondot jelent számukra a magyarországi iskolások számára készített tananyagok nyomasztó összetettsége, az utóbbiban elsikkadnak olyan részterületek, amelyeknek fejlesztésére a külföldieknek nincs szükségük.
A megoldás a tanárok és a tanulók tudatosságának fejlesztésében rejlik: a nyelvtudás értékének hangsúlyozása mellett a feladatok meghatározására is szükség van. Ezzel a szemlélettel csökkenthetjük a származásnyelvi diákokra nehezedő pszichés terheket és valódi segítséget nyújthatunk nekik.
Amikor kétnyelvűségről beszélünk, az egyén nyelvhasználata szempontjából írjuk le tapasztalatainkat. A közösségi és az oktatási feladatok meghatározása szempontjából azonban érdemes megvizsgálni a származásnyelvi szemlélet nyújtotta lehetőségeket is, hogy a hétvégi és délutáni magyar iskolák diákjainak és önkéntes tanárainak is segítséget nyújthassunk.
A magyarul tanuló magyar származású diákok nyelvtudása olyan mintázatot mutat, amelynek leírása segítheti oktatásuk hatékonyságának növelését. Sokan a magyarországi tanulókhoz hasonlónak tekintik őket, máskor éppen ellenkezőleg történik a besorolás: haladó szintű külföldi nyelvtanulók között találjuk őket. Nehéz feladatot jelent számukra mindkét csoporthoz tartozás. Az előbbiben komoly gondot jelent számukra a magyarországi iskolások számára készített tananyagok nyomasztó összetettsége, az utóbbiban elsikkadnak olyan részterületek, amelyeknek fejlesztésére a külföldieknek nincs szükségük.
A megoldás a tanárok és a tanulók tudatosságának fejlesztésében rejlik: a nyelvtudás értékének hangsúlyozása mellett a feladatok meghatározására is szükség van. Ezzel a szemlélettel csökkenthetjük a származásnyelvi diákokra nehezedő pszichés terheket és valódi segítséget nyújthatunk nekik.
“Reporting from the Other Shore” – Pál Ipper and the United States of America
History/Political ScienceDuring the years of the communist regime, the average Hungarian citizen had very limited access to information about the United States. Pál Ipper was a journalist who worked as a correspondent in New York between 1963 and 1969, he was a former officer of the state security, and he had a great influence on the public opinion of the Kádár regime. This paper
uses two of Ipper's books about the United States, A túlsó partról jelentem [Reporting from the other shore] (1970), and Újvilági utazások [Travels to the New World] (1973) to present how Ipper attempted to affect the Hungarian public´s image of America when it came to a number of subjects. Whereas the books also cover a number of other issues, this focuses on how they represented the American press, politics, economy, society, the American people and the Hungarians in America. While Ipper was a well-prepared journalist and seems to have been quite knowledgable about the United States, the image that he painted about the country in the books was heavily distorted. While attempting to appear objective, Ipper in fact conveyed the official propaganda of the communist regime about America.
uses two of Ipper's books about the United States, A túlsó partról jelentem [Reporting from the other shore] (1970), and Újvilági utazások [Travels to the New World] (1973) to present how Ipper attempted to affect the Hungarian public´s image of America when it came to a number of subjects. Whereas the books also cover a number of other issues, this focuses on how they represented the American press, politics, economy, society, the American people and the Hungarians in America. While Ipper was a well-prepared journalist and seems to have been quite knowledgable about the United States, the image that he painted about the country in the books was heavily distorted. While attempting to appear objective, Ipper in fact conveyed the official propaganda of the communist regime about America.
“Two-Time Enemy Alien” – The Curious Case of Victor Gondos Sr.
History/Political ScienceThe American immigrant experience in the 20th century was burdened with two World Wars. As Hungary fought on the opposite side in both wars, Hungarians living the United States were declared ‘enemy aliens’ both times. This carried the possibility of several types of discrimination and intolerance from the Federal Government as well as the American society. This original research, based on a wide variety of primary and secondary resources, aims to shed light onto the fact that not only US citizens of German and Japanese origins, but also Hungarian Americans could easily become targets of the American authorities. The presentation takes one Hungarian immigrant family, the Gondos Family's case as an example to demonstrate how the US wartime intelligence targeted American citizens with "enemy alien" descent in World War One and Two. The head of the family, Victor Gondos Sr was victim of wartime hysteria during both wars. In 1916, Gondos was imprisoned due to a false suspicion of participating in a bomb plot. Later, in 1942-1944, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an inquiry about him for (also falsely) suspecting him to be a Nazi supporter. Examining this story can be resourceful to better understand the situation of the wartime minorities in the United States.
“Under Uncle Sam’s Flag” – The Hungarian American Experience in World War I
History/Political ScienceAfter the United States declared war on Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917, Hungarian immigrants were categorized as ‘enemy aliens’ under the Selective Service Act. However, roughly 3.000 of Hungarian Americans ended up serving in the American Military. The presentation will explore the way Hungarian immigrant soldiers experienced World War One. In the most part, the presentation will focus on some important figures of Hungarian-American soldiers who made significant contributions to the American war efforts, including Sergeant Alexander Arch, who fired the first American shot, and Captain Bernath Weiss, who participated in the official negotiations with the leader of the Soviet Republic of Hungary, Béla Kun. Also, the presentation will look into some of the details of the life of Hungarian-American communities during the war. The research is based on two main source groups: primary source records from American archives, and contemporary, predominantly Hungarian-American newspaper articles. Additionally, relevant works of secondary literature will be explored and utilized.
“ ‘Páris felett a furcsán elborult hajnal. . .’: Radnóti and his French Connections”
Language/LiteratureIn abundant biographies, Miklós Radnóti, one of the greatest Hungarian poets of the 20th century, very little concrete scholarship has appeared on the influence on his oeuvre of French authors, or his visits to Paris (1931, 1937, 1939). The Colonial Exposition of 1931 and the waning years of Parisian “negrophilia” even turned his attention toward African cultures, an interest that he maintained throughout his life, as evidenced by his eventual (1934) translation of a series of African folk tales: Karunga a holtak ura. Néger legendák. In 1930, Radnóti had enrolled at Szeged University, majoring in Hungarian and French. While his PhD was on Margit Kaffka, his early influences included French symbolists Baudelaire and Verlaine. His translations from French on the works of La Fontaine and Montherlant were an influence on his literary development. In his 1934 essay, he discusses French “exoticists” including Apollinaire and Blaise Cendrars. While works such as his lyrical “Juliusi vers” (1931) dates from his first Paris trip, his return trip in 1937 was to a very different Paris: he experienced first-hand public demonstrations in the streets and anxieties stemming from the Spanish Civil War next door. Living in the Hôtel des Trois Collèges across from the Sorbonne during the summers of 1937 and 1939, he recalls this period in his poem “Paris” (1943). A commemorative plaque by the hotel entrance celebrates the memory of Radnóti with a quotation from his “Hispánia, Hispánia”: “Népek kiáltják sorsodat, szabadság! ma délután is érted szállt az ének.” This paper seeks to add nuances to the intense and moving poetic production of a poet’s idyllic world eventually colliding violently with a tragic socio-political reality and pain in his verses that reflect the horror and suffering caused by Nazi persecution unleashed in particular against people of Jewish heritage.
