Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1976 (4. évfolyam, 9-12. szám)

1976 / 9. szám

orientation of a historian. Except for the period between 1935 and 1945, Szekfu’s books and articles on history and politics expressed the views of the politically influential segment of Hungarian society. At the same time, the historian exerted a strong influence on the intellectual community of Hungary.

Until the dissolution of the Monarchy after World War I, Szekfu was a pro-Habsburg Dualist and he stated that Hungary’s proper place was within the “Christian-German cultural community.” In the decade following the Treaty of Trianon, Szekfu turned to nationalism and anti-liberalism, providing much of the ideological underpinnings of the Horthy regime. He changed his political views by the mid- 1930’s when he recognized the folly of a pro-German foreign policy and disapproved of domestic policies. Szekfu was involved in the anti-German resistance movement and he came to support the communist regime in the years that remained him. Although he never joined the Communist Party and remained a devout Christian, at the time of his death in 1955, Szekfu was a member of the Presidium of the People’s Republic of Hungary.

Szekfiialways believed in a disciplined, authoritarian state and a primacy of the interests of foreign policy over domestic considerations. He was convinced that the stability of the state took precedence over the rights of the people. He maintained a life-long suspicion and mistrust of capitalism and upheld religious and national values. Changes in his views were pragmatic and political: they did not require him to change his historical perspective or moral principles and they were made in what he saw as the best interest of his country.

Hidas, Peter Ivan, (McGill U. 1974.) “Imperial Liberal Centralists and the Hungarian Ruling Class: The Impact of Franz Joseph's Administration on Hungary, 1849-1853 .” To obtain a microfiche copy please order directly from the National Library of Canada at Ottawa.

This dissertation considers the post-revolutionary period in the Hungarian part of the Austrian Empire between 1849 and 1853. During this time the House of Habsburg made use of the Liberal Centralists, a small group of right wing pro-middle class Imperial politicians, to pacify and rejuvenate Austria and improve the Empire’s position in Germany. The success of this Liberal Centralist Government depended largely on their ability to involve the Hungarians in the modernization of the Empire.

The thesis probes both the objectives and the achievements of the Schwarzenberg-Bach Administration and the reaction of the two components of the Hungarian ruling class, the aristocracy and the gentry, to the Cabinet’s Hungarian policies and reforms. Finally, the thesis explores the powerrelationship between the Emperor and the Liberal Centralists, as well as between the powers in Vienna and the only legitimate Hungarian quasi-party, the Old Conservatives and their Magyar allies.

Zemke, Lorna, Sister. (U. of Southern California, 1973) “The Kodály Method and a Comparison of the Effects of a Kodaly- Adapted Music Instruction Sequence and a More Typical Sequence on Auditory Musical Achievement in Fourth- Grade Students.” 342 Pages. Xerox and microfilm order no. 73-14,459.

This study is an investigation into various aspects of the Kodály Music Education Method and the effectiveness of a Kodaly-adaption for American music education. The main

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Conrad C. Reining, Prof, of Anthropology completed a yearlong exchange visit to Hungary, sponsored by the U.S. Academy of Sciences. Dr. Reining conducted ethnological field and library research among the German speaking minority in Baranya and Tolna counties. The project appears to have been unusual in both time span and in being carried out outside of the urban centers. The research focused on three clusters of problems: (a) the mechanisms of ethnicity among German speakers in Hungary; (b) historical demography of this population; and (c) the relationship between social and economic status and family structure among the peasants of this population. He found that village loyalty, strong among all nationalities including the Hungarians, accounted for the maintenance of identity more perhaps than any other factor. Nevertheless, the Germanness of most communities is now rapidly diminishing as a consequence of the experience of the German minority following World War II and the fundamental economic and social changes that charactarize the era. Dr. Reining, who is now analyzing his data, may be reached at the Dept, of Anthropology, Catholic U., Washington, DC 20017. □

Hugo Radice, Research Fellow, Centre for Contemporary European Studies, U. of Sussex, is conducting research at the Karl Marx U. of Economics in Budapest. His interest focuses on cooperation agreements between Hungarian and Western enterprises in the engineering industry; the historical background, motivations and effects of this form of relationship in the context of the NEM, the developing patterns of integration within the CEMA, and the problems of accelerating technical progress in the Hungarian economy. The research is made possible by the exchange agreement between the Centre and the KKI. Dr: Radice may be reached at Mantell Bldg., U. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RF, England.D

New Series

HUNGARIAN REFERENCE SHELF

Hungarian Ethnography: A Bibliography of English Language Sources, by David R. Howell of the University of Virginia; 24 pages.Price: $1.80 plus 20 cents postage.

Order: Hungarian Research Center, American Hungarian Foundation, Post Office Box 1084, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

purpose of the study was to determine, by means of an experiment, the effectiveness of a Kodaly-adapted sequence on auditory musical achievement in fourth-grade students. Other purposes were to conduct an intensive study of the history and philosophy underlying the Kodály Method, to analyze the Hungarian elementary school system, texts and folk song materials, and finally, to construct Kodalyadapted sequence for classroom use in the United States.

Kodaly’s philosophy embodied various beliefs aimed at making every man musically literate through singing and the use of native folk song material. Various world music education systems were studied, and selected techniques were incorporated into Hungarian methodology by Kodály and his colleagues. By 1944 the basis of the Kodály Method was formulated and the concept was introduced to the western world in the 1950s.

NO. 9 1976 HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

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