Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1976 (4. évfolyam, 9-12. szám)
1976 / 10. szám
yfl HUNGARIAN ^§11 STUDIES síZMulNEWSLETTER No. 10 Spring 1976 Published three times a year: Winter, Spring and Fall Editor: Dr. Bela C. Maday Journal Review Editor: Dr. Enikő' M. Basa Corresponding Editor: Dr. Lorant Czigany (London) Communications concerning content should be sent to the: EDITOR, HSN 4528 - 49th STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20016 Subscription in the United States: $3.00; abroad $4.00. Current single copy $1.00; back issues $1.50 each. Communications concerning subscriptions and circulation should be sent to: HUNGARIAN RESEARCH CENTER AMERICAN HUNGARIAN FOUNDATION 177 SOMERSET STREET P.O. BOX 1084 NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. 08903 DISSERTATIONS * Goldstein, Imre, (City U. of New York, 1975) “A History of Hungarian Drama between 1945 and 1970.” 746 pages. Xerox and microfilm order no. 75-5483. A summary of Hungarian drama and theater in the first forty years of this century is given, describing trends and traditions which post-World War II Hungarian drama followed or failed to follow. After 1945 plays were censored, program policies of the theaters were directed by nonartistic, political functionaries, experimental theaters were banned and foreign troupes were prevented from visiting Hungary. Since the years immediately following the 1956 uprising, political control of drama and theater has eased considerably. The increased freedom to criticise mistakes and shortcomings of the political system, the opportunity to experiment with new forms and techniques, to establish close contacts with foreign drama, and a chance to discover some of Hungary's own, but virtually forgotten dramatic achievements of the interwar years, created a vital and exiciting period in the mid-and late 1960s. Thisstudyfollows all phases of post- World War II Hungarian drama, and, through the presentation of selected authors and plays it attempts to show not only the development of drama in Hungary, but how this drama might enter into the mainstream of world drama. (*) Abstracts are based on ones published in Dissertation Abstracts International. Microfilm and xerox copies of the original full dissertation may be obtained from Xerox University Microfilm, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106. When ordering, use the number shown above. BOOKS Bartha, Antal. HUNGARIAN SOCIETY IN THE 9th AND 10th CENTURIES. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1975. 147 pages, notes. $9.00 cloth. (Vol. 85 of the Studia Historica series of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.) Based on archaeological, linguistic, and historical sources, the author states that immediately before the Conquest Hungarians lived in a tribal form of organization. There were seven tribes, evolving from a tribal confederation into a nation after the Conquest. In the general area between Dagestan and west to the Dnieper, Hungarians interacted with the Saltovo-Mayatsk culture, represented by Khazars, Normans, and Slavs mainly in the Principality of Kiev area. Bartha, taking a social-historical approach, says that “very few East European archaeological finds can be regarded with absolute certainty as being of Hungarian origin,” a fact which makes definite statements about the adaptation process of the Hungarians while in the area of the Ukrainian Plain (Continued on page 3) Porro, Jeffrey David, (U. of California, Los Angeles, 1975) “Political Change and the Group Model in Communist Systems: Workers and Writers in Poland and Hungary, 1957-1970.” 280 pages. Xerox and microfilm order no. 75-17,795. Since the political explosions of 1956, the attention of political scientists analyzing Eastern Europe has focused increasingly on problems of political change. The analysts have sought new explanatory frameworks and theories. The specific aspect of political change focused upon in this study is the weakening of the Party elites’ power position, caused by the limits de-Stalinization has placed on terror, and by the increase in power of certain key groups due to their role in ensuring continued economic development. H. Gordon Skilling’s interest group approach to communist systems is used as a framework for examination of its two hypotheses: (1) in Communist systems, certain groups have a significant degree of interaction and consciousness of their common group interests; (2) in Communist systems power has dispersed to the point that interest groups have an active role in the input side of policy-making. The data were obtained from Radio Free Europe translations of the mass media in Poland and Hungary. After a brief analysis of the events of 1956, the political activities of the writers and workers are examined. For the Hungarian workers the key events were the destruction of their workers councils in 1957 and the workers general apathy until 1966, when they gained new powers under the New Economic Mechanism. By 1970 these powers appeared firmly established. For the writers the key events were the “writers strike” of 1957, the gradual reaching of a compromise between the regime and the writers in the early 1960s, and the writers continued effort to reduce limits on literary activity in the years since. Porro concludes that the evidence in the workers’ case seems to cast doubt on the validity of Skilling’s approach, while in the case of the writers, the evidence seems to confirm the first hypothesis, but raises some questions about the second. He feels that Skilling’s approach is of limited utility in analyzing political change in Eastern Europe. A new model, perhaps one which better combines the elements of group autonomy and continued overall Party control of the political system, is needed. 2 NO. 10, 1976 HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
