Hungarian Heritage Review, 1991 (20. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1991-03-01 / 3. szám
The virus epidemic is now so widespread that a Hungarian "hit-squad" has been organized to track down and report on the bugs. LONDON, ENGLAND - According to press reports emanating from here, Hungarian playwright George Tábori, who perfected his expertise in Hollywood during the 1950's, has stirred up quite a storm in Germany. His new play has not only rocked German theatre-goers right back on their heels, and given the German "yellow press" a reason for becoming hysterical in print, but has also triggered a German-Jewish debate. It seems that Tabori's "black comedy" is not only a big hit on the German stagecircuit, but also a target for public venom. His "Mein Kampf: Farce" tells the story of Adolf Hitler's early life in vaudeville-style, slapstick, but which conveys an element of truth. As the pro-and-con debate continues to escalate, more and more people clamor to "see-the-show", which, in turn, makes Tábori richer-and-richer. Maybe that is why he said on the way to his bank: "People have a very deep need to see the worst about themselves, because it's where the truth is." SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - When Miklós Kontra of the Linguistic Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences completed his temporary assignment as a Professor of Hungarian at Indiana University in Bloomington, he returned to Budapest with about 120 hours of cassettes and a trunk-full of research materials. There he put what he had learned about the ways the Hungarian language was used in South Bend into a book entitled: The Hungarian Language as Spoken in South Bend, Indiana". According to Kontra, the reason why he decided to make such an unusual study was to preserve what was left of the Hungarian language as spoken in the early 1900's as a basis for comparing its usage today. "Fifty years ago," he explained, "the language was spoken in neighborhoods around St. Stephen Catholic Church and Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church. It was spoken in the streets. There were Hungarian newspapers. It was spoken in butcher shops and other businesses. That community structure is now gone. The language isn't spoken by most thirdgeneration Hungarians. The melting pot is unavoidable." He also found that English spoken by Hungarian- Americans is different from English spoken by Hungarians in Hungary. "In Hungary," Kontra said, "they are exposed to British English." Of course, we Hungarian-Americans don't speak British-English: We speak American- English, which is quite different. But, Miklós Kontra is already hard at work preparing another book that will explain this difference. Its title will be "English as Spoken by Hungarian-Americans". WASHINGTON, D.C. - If His Excellency Peter Zwack, the Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to the United States of America, should slaken his alertness, somebody may "kitchen-kidnap" his imported Chef, Kalman Kalla. In the short time that this former Executive Chef of the Forum Hotel in Budapest has been on-the-job preparing Hungarian-fare for his boss, his fame as an artist in the culinary art of Hungarian cookery has spread far and wide throughtout diplomatic circles in Washington. No doubt, this is what Ambassador Zwack had in mind when, one of his conditions for accepting the job, was that he be allowed to bring with him to the U.S. one of Hungary's "brightest culinary stars". For in his opinion, 'Through food and wine you can do so much for your country. Its part of Hungary's new image, and one way to get it across is through the stomach!" He has, and is, proving this to be true! —continued next page 6 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW MARCH 1991
