History/Political Science paper by Réthelyi, Mari
The View of the Other: Hungarians as Jews and Jews as Hungarians in Racial Discourses at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Accepted)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
My paper examines at the turn of the 20th century history of Neolog Jewish race theories. I analyze how Neolog Jews were influenced by the race theories of Hungarian nationalism and drew up alternative racial definitions of Jewishness and Hungarianness. I point out how their discourses were multidimensional and even self-contradictory about who is a Hungarian. I document the diversity as well as introduce the framework of Hungarian Jewish discourses of self-understanding with relation to Hungarian nationalism, anti-Semitism, and Oriental Studies. By focusing on the idea of national unity and common origin I am able to go into the subtext of the relationship between Hungarians and Jews. My goal is to draw a portrait of a group and explain their importance. I approach their discourse through an intellectual historiography. In promoting the idea of a race-based identity these scholars imitated European theories of culture and civilization, and also offered their own personal interpretations of the relationship between race and nation, an interpretation, which reflected the particular ethnic condition of Hungary. The examination of their ideas gives us a perspective that is significant for understanding modern Hungary at large and specifically is essential to the understanding of the self-imaginings of a Hungarian minority community.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
I received my PhD from Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago. I teach at Louisiana State University in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. My research interest includes Modern Hungarian History and literature, with special emphasis on Hungarian Jewish intellectual history.