Past Abstracts
773 abstracts found
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.
“ ‘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.
“ ‘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.
“About a Village” – Documentary film
Cultural Studies/ArtsWhere is one’s true home? For Elsa Koch and her circle of friends this question is more
complicated than for most of us. Born in a German-speaking village in southern Hungary, they were forced to leave after the Second World War, still children. Although they eventually succeeded in building their lives in post-war Germany, the transition was not easy. Having been expelled from Hungary as Germans—a measure sanctioned by the Allies in 1945—they were regarded as outsiders in Germany as well, often referred to as “Hungarian Gypsies.” They had to suddenly become adults when they did not yet feel ready for it. No wonder that the small Hungarian village keeps occupying a special place in their hearts. They yearn for the uncomplicated world of their childhoods, where their lives were mapped out by the village streets and nothing could penetrate their sphere of joy and playfulness, not even the cruelties of war and politics. Is that world gone forever or have they managed to hold onto it throughout the past six decades? Is it in fact a physical place or more of an inner landscape? The viewer is free to reply to these questions or leave them unanswered. The characters in the film tell the story and express their occasionally conflicting views in their own words, leaving room for interpretation. This is a film about people who were affected by historical events and not a film about “history.”
68 minutes long. It is in German and Hungarian, with English subtitles.
complicated than for most of us. Born in a German-speaking village in southern Hungary, they were forced to leave after the Second World War, still children. Although they eventually succeeded in building their lives in post-war Germany, the transition was not easy. Having been expelled from Hungary as Germans—a measure sanctioned by the Allies in 1945—they were regarded as outsiders in Germany as well, often referred to as “Hungarian Gypsies.” They had to suddenly become adults when they did not yet feel ready for it. No wonder that the small Hungarian village keeps occupying a special place in their hearts. They yearn for the uncomplicated world of their childhoods, where their lives were mapped out by the village streets and nothing could penetrate their sphere of joy and playfulness, not even the cruelties of war and politics. Is that world gone forever or have they managed to hold onto it throughout the past six decades? Is it in fact a physical place or more of an inner landscape? The viewer is free to reply to these questions or leave them unanswered. The characters in the film tell the story and express their occasionally conflicting views in their own words, leaving room for interpretation. This is a film about people who were affected by historical events and not a film about “history.”
68 minutes long. It is in German and Hungarian, with English subtitles.
“American Letters” – Imre Széchenyi’s 1881 Trip to America
Science/EconomicsIn 1881, Imre Széchenyi, together with four young Austrian and Hungarian aristocrats, and accompanied by a German economist/politician/journalist, visited the US. This was a study trip; the group was to study the agriculture and government administration in the US. Imre Széchenyi spent about eight months in the US, from March to October 1881, and his travels took him throughout the country. He published a book about his experiences, Somogyvári I. “Amerikai levelek” egy hosszabb zárszóval (Somogyvár I., American Letters with a Longer Postscript). The book has three parts; the first includes the letters that he sent to Hungarian newspapers while in the USA, the second, a briefer part of the book, is a collection of his drawings and explanations of the workings of new American agricultural machinery. The third section, his postscript, enumerates the European and American advantages in agriculture, and offers solutions for changes to be made in order that Hungarian agriculture could increase its competitiveness. This paper will evaluate the solutions proposed.
“Busy with Music” – an Innovative Music Education Method for Children Aged 2 to 7
Music/FolkloreThe paper introduces a music education method worked out by the author. The method “Busy with Music” was developed for toddlers and kindergarten-age children and has been included in the program of MÜPA Budapest (Palace of Arts) since 2012. The methodology was published as a book (Mindenben zene; “Music in Everything”) in 2016 and was also presented at the Balassi Institute in Budapest at the methodological training of Hungarian educators working abroad. The novelty of the method lies in the fact that it implements musical education and the development of musical skills by using mainly Hungarian folk music and embedding it in complex activities that target various competence areas. The tools used in the sessions are simple everyday objects and toys that can motivate them, catch their attention, and raise their interest (wooden spoon, wooden blocks, ribbons, buttons, etc.). The method relies on the transfer effect (on language, reading, writing, mathematics, etc.) of the games, which are based on the components of music (rhythm, volume, pitch, melody, harmonies, etc.). The method was inspired by the principle that all children are capable of understanding music and expressing themselves through music, but personal experience and activity are equally important to them. This activity-oriented method can easily be adapted to Kodály’s concept of everyday singing, and it can also support children’s self-expressive, cognitive, affective, and social competences, and their success in school.
“Coal Dust Absorbs our Tears:’ The Hungarians of Appalachia, 1880-1928”
History/Political ScienceThis paper demonstrates that immigration and labor historians have yet to explore the role of Hungarian immigrants in the factories and coalfields of Appalachia, defined for our purposes as West Virginia, southwest Virginia, eastern Kentucky and several eastern counties in Ohio. Neglect of the topic is noteworthy since the earliest immigrant coalminers in the southern Appalachian coal mines were Hungarians, and Hungarian laborers dominated some of America’s largest coal mines, including the massive US Steel facility in Gary, West Virginia.
A handful of scholars such as Julianna Puskas were aware that Hungarians worked the mines and factories in the Appalachian region, but she was apparently unaware of the numbers involved. Indeed, by 1906, a second Austro-Hungarian consulate was deemed necessary in West Virginia to grapple with the seemingly endless volume of issues encountered there by Hungarian laborers.Puskas rightly indicated that most of the Hungarians who went to work in Appalachia lived in boarding houses and eventually left the region to return home or to secure better jobs in the US North and Midwest. Yet Hungarian migrants tended to live in boarding houses in other regions of the US where they exhibited a similar transience. This paper will demonstrate that a surprising number of Appalachian Hungarians settled in this uniquely southern region of the US, reared families, and played a vital role as an important civilizing agent in their communities.
A handful of scholars such as Julianna Puskas were aware that Hungarians worked the mines and factories in the Appalachian region, but she was apparently unaware of the numbers involved. Indeed, by 1906, a second Austro-Hungarian consulate was deemed necessary in West Virginia to grapple with the seemingly endless volume of issues encountered there by Hungarian laborers.Puskas rightly indicated that most of the Hungarians who went to work in Appalachia lived in boarding houses and eventually left the region to return home or to secure better jobs in the US North and Midwest. Yet Hungarian migrants tended to live in boarding houses in other regions of the US where they exhibited a similar transience. This paper will demonstrate that a surprising number of Appalachian Hungarians settled in this uniquely southern region of the US, reared families, and played a vital role as an important civilizing agent in their communities.
“Doctor’s Families”: Social History of Hungarian Jewish Health Professionals
History/Political ScienceIt is an interesting question, what constitutes dynasties devoting themselves to certain professions. The author examines many reasons, among them seeking financial and existential stability, but others, such as accumulating knowledge and a strong commitment to science also comes to consideration. The history of three generation of doctors is consulted and also interviews prepared to investigate the question.
