Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1977 (5. évfolyam, 13-15. szám)
1977 / 15. szám
tive. Two essays deal with Hungary. Alfred A. Reisch’s Sándor Bölöni Farkas’s Reflections on American Political and Social Institutions, and Béla K. Király’s Béla Széchenyi’s American Tour. “The Hungarian Age of Reform immediately preceding the Revolution of 1848 was a period of transition from a traditional feudal structure toward a more modern and more democratic state,” says Reisch. “The American Revolution ... precipitated momentous political changes in the West from which the Hungarian reformers drew inspiration.” Few were the channels of communication between the U.S. and Hungary, hence, the journey of Sándor Bölöni Farkas, a reform-minded Transylvanian nobleman and his report upon returning to Hungary was of great significance. “Not only was he the first Hungarian reformer to visit the United States but the memoir he published on his return made Hungarian readers aware for the first time of the political system of the United States and introduced the American model into Hungarian reform politics.” Király says that “Széchenyi had read Bölöni Farkas and the original French edition of Tocqueville, by which he had been deeply impressed. In the United States he carefully recorded his own experiences and impressions, and immediately after his return to Hungary published them in his book Amerikai utam (My American BOOKS (Continued) Journey). “Széchenyi was in a position to make his statement wtih authority, for his father István was one of the architects of the enactments of 1848. The laws that guided Hungarian life in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first two of the twentieth were built on these fundamental laws of 1848. The assertion must have come as a revelation to many contemporary Hungarians, in whose hearts and minds Bela Széchenyi did much to reinforce the image of the United States as an exemplar of a free and prosperous society that deserved to be examined at close quarters and copied as far as was possible. Széchenyi made a lasting contribution to America’s reputation among his countrymen.” Dr. Reisch is a Research Analyst with the Library of Congress; and Dr. Király is Prof, of History at Brooklyn College. Országh, László. ANGOL EREDETŰ ELEMEK A MAGYAR SZÓKÉSZLETBEN (English contributions to the Hungarian vocabulary). Akade'miai Kiadó, Budapest. 1977. 176 pages. Ft. 32. No. 93 in the Nyelvtudományi Értekezések (Linguistic Treatises) series. This study is in Hungarian about English loan words. Most of the bibliography can be useful to the non-Magyarspeaker, and the indexes have English instructions. It is about the (Continued on page 4) THE READERS SPEAK Just about a year ago (Winter 1976) the HSN contained a questionnaire through which we hoped to accomplish two objectives: to learn more about the composition of our readership, and to solicit ideas in regard to our services. It is reassuring that 120 of you, about 10% of all readers, returned the questionnaire. The respondent group may not represent a true cross-section of our readership, being biased toward those who read more intensively, who do work as Hungarianists, and who are more closely concerned with dissemination of Hungarian-related knowledge in English rather than with ethnic identity maintenance. The ages of the respondent 20 women and 93 men, who gave their age, vary from 22 to 89, with an overall average of 50 years.Fifty of those who replied are in one way or another connected with the academic world as professors, researchers or students; 8 are librarians, 6 clergymen, 6 physicians and dentists, 9 engineers, 9 businessmen and executives, 11 other white collar workers, and 4 are blue collar readers. These are the best friends of the HSN: 82 read each issue thoroughly, 30 are mostly interested in reading the book reviews, article and paper reviews, 18 each the dissertations and research in progress sections, 10 like to know about the exchange programs most of all, and many find the miscellaneous news items of special interest. Twenty-eight readers sent us suggestions toward the improvement of the HSN, and 25 made a variety of suggestions related to Hungarians in America in general; 32 reported doing work on Hungary-related topics, and 36 sent us the names of 68 potential subscribers to whom we sent sample copies of the HSN. Twenty-nine readers said the HSN is fine as it is, no changes are needed (many thanks for some of the superlatives); seven suggested improvements in the layout, i.e. more homogeneous columns with fewer interruptions; 3 readers each suggested a permanent increase in size (number of pages), a "news on American Hungarians," and a "letter to the editor" column; 2 suggested turning the HSN into a journal; and several asked for lists of schools and courses offering Hungarian area and language studies. Others suggested that the HSN intensify its public relations efforts and expand its readership especially among college students of Hungarian background; write more for senior citizens; concern itself more with genealogical research; affiliate with a university for prestige purposes and wider distribution; inform its readers of meetings in advance; translate all foreign words (and titles) used; improve the English of the HSN; concern itself with Hungarian musical compositions outside of Hungary; review Hungarian language texts; extend its coverage to all English speaking parts of the world; give descriptions of Hungary-related library collections, private and public; provide more news on research in progress; report on non-scholarly publications such as cookbooks, records, etc.; breakup miscellaneous column into several specialized sections; and print original articles in Hungarian, in addition to reviews. As we mentioned earlier, some of the advise has been implemented already, somé will be adopted gradually, while other ideas must wait because of financial problems. Those who are interested in expanding the HSN toward a fuller coverage (with whom we enthusiastically agree) might want to know that the printing of each additional page of a single issue costs about $75, and that it is not practical to add less than four pages to an issue. All in all, the editors and the publisher thank you for your cooperation and support. We have one more request: should you have comments, suggestions, news items to report do not wait for the next questionnaire but send them to us right away. NO. 15, 1977-78, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER 3
