History/Political Science paper by Mathey, Éva
History and Memory; the Statues of Washington, Kossuth, and Bandholtz and What They Teach Us (Accepted)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Public statues as physical representations of our collective memory convey complex messages about a community’s conceptualization and construction of its past and present—reflecting a certain set of values, ideas, and ideals, as well as their broader political, social, and cultural implications. The presentation proposes to discuss the histories of three respective ‘memory sites’ including George Washington’s statue in the City Park, Budapest supported by the American-Hungarian community in 1906, the monument dedicated to the Hungarian freedom fighter, Lajos Kossuth in 1928 in New York, and the statue honoring US representative of the Inter-Allied Military Mission in Hungary, General Harry Hill Bandholtz in Budapest to analyze what they may teach us about the history of Hungary during the period between the world wars, as well as about important aspects, concerns, and issues of American-Hungarian relations of this era with special focus on the revision of Hungary’s post-World War I borders.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Éva Mathey, assistant professor at the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen, teaches American history and culture. Her special fields of research include American society and political culture during the period between the world wars, Hungarian-American relations with special emphasis on the interwar years. She earned a PhD in American Studies from the University of Debrecen in 2012. She has published articles both in Hungarian and English in journals such as, for example, Aetas, Eger Journal of American Studies, Hungarian Studies Review and Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, and AMERICANA. Her monograph on Hungarian revisionist efforts toward the US was published by Debrecen University Press in 2020.