Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1979 (7. évfolyam, 19-22. szám)
1979 / 19-20. szám
terms of values, way of life, and potential development. It is an authentic work with a certrain political bias and selfcriticism, a rare treat for the social scientist. The author was Prime Minister (1951-1956) and head of the Sociological Research Group of the HAS (1963-1968), among his many roles he played until 1973, when he was expelled from the party. Huszár, Tibor, Kálmán Kulcsár, and Sándor Szalai, eds., HUNGARIAN SOCIETY AND MARXIST SOCIOLOGY IN THE NINETEEN-SEVENTIES. Budapest: Corvina Press, 1978. 280 pages, tables. $ n.a. paper. Sociology in Hungary has become a social science in its own right in the 1970s. (For previous reviews of the field see HSN no. 2, p. 5, and no. 8, p. 6.) The present volume contains 13 papers written by the elite of Hungarian sociology. The introduction briefly sketches the history of sociology in Hungary, emphasizing factors which inhibited its development at a time when it was already flurishing in neighboring countries. It was the intention of the editors to present select topics rather than cover the entire spectrum of interest and research. Most prominent among the concerns of sociologists in Hungary are those expressed toward social planning, economic change, transformation of settlement patterns, shifts in social structure, socio-economic mobility and its agents (such as the school system), the continuous role of the family, and the way of life studies. More specifically: S. Szalai writes about the social sciences and their place in a Marxist society; this theme is expanded in an activist style by J. Lick; and followed up by Zs. Ferge on “societal policy.” A. Szegő and Gy. Wiener write on public administration and factors of interest; K. Kulcsár on social factors in the effectiveness of the law; L. Hethy and Cs. Mako on technology and work; Zs. Hantd, Z. Kárpáti, and A. Vágvölgyi present an essay on settlement structure in the village; T. Huszár on middle-class workers; R. Angelusz, Z. Balogh, M. Körmendi, P. Lederer, and M. Szekelyi discuss mobility of lawyers; L. Cseh-Szombathy has a substantial essay on the family; F. Gazso on social mobility and education; and I. Vitányi presents an article on the artistic taste of workers. ILLUSTRATED CHRONICLE OF THE ROYAL HUNGARIAN ARMED FORCES (1919-1945). Publ. by the Hungarian Order of Vitéz, in collaboration with the Hungarian Veterans Assoc, (both in exile). Gen. ed. Ferenc Adonyi. Distributor: Zoltán v. Korossy, 118 Monroe Street, #205, Rockville, MD 20850, 1978. 300 pages, diagrams, illus. $27.00 cloth. This is a useful collection of source material in print and in 800 black-and-white photos, concerning the history of the Hungarian Armed Forces during the interwar period and during World War II, as seen by its former members. It includes chapters on structure, training, leadership, on involvement in the re-annexation of territories lost after World War I, and on the Armed Forces’ participation in World War II. The appendix contains illustrated description of uniforms, rank insignia, decorations, and peace-time tables of organization. To some extent the volume complements and illustrates Lajos Veress' three volumes Hungary’s National Defense (1920-1945) published in Hungarian (1972- 1974), and Ferenc Adonyi’s Hungarian Soldier in World War II, published in Hungarian (1954) and in German (1971). A multilingual text in English, French, German, and Hungarian, BOOKS as well as English translations of Hungarian captions facilitate the use of the volume. The Hungarian Order of Vitéz was established by Regent Horthy in 1920 to award persons for outstanding performance in the service of national defense. Kardos, Lajos, ed., PROBLEMS OF INFORMATION PROCESSING AND PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION. With assistant editor Csaba Pléh, and consultant editor Magda L. Ma'rton. Budapest: Akade'miai Kiadó', 1978. 93 pages, diagrams, tables, biblio. $4.00 paper. Psychology had troubles in establishing itself in Hungary until about the mid 1960s. Since then, an evergrowing group of psychologists have been active in both experimental and clinical work. This small volume is the first to present a selection of seven recent studies in English. In the past, English readers have been restricted to a meager diet of English summaries provided at the conclusion of some studies in Hungarian professional journals. The emphasis of the volume is on perception. The six authors, all members of the Institute for Psychology, HAS, recognize interaction between perception and coding processes, and try to explain these in terms of physiological mechanisms. All experiments were carried out in Hungary. Kramár, Zoltán, FROM THE DANUBE TO THE HUDSON; U.S. Ministerial and Consular Despatches on Immigration from the Habsburg Monarchy; 1850-1900. Foreword by S.B. Va'rdy. Hungarian Cultural Foundation, P.O. Box 364, Stone Mountain, GA 30086, 1978. 109 pages. $8.00 paper. This volume contains some 45 despatches or sections of multi-topical despatches which deal specifically with immigration, and were composed by U.S. diplomatic and consular officials. They are to enlighten the reader on (1) official U.S. attitudes, especially those of the State Department, and on the political transformation which has taken place in the Habsburg Empire during the fifty years under investigation; (2) they also provide unique source material toward the understanding of motivation of immigrants; (3) there is a body of data on the cultural properties of the immigrants; and finally (4) there are despatches dwelling on undesirable immigrants. The author echoes the views of many historians finding immigration studies a badly underdeveloped field of historical inquiry, lacking a holistic, integrated approach. The publication of these documents should demonstrate the richness of untapped sources, and fill gaps in the available source material of immigration research. According to the author, “they also help us to understand how a small, though important, segment of Federal officialdom viewed and evaluated one of the oldest and most complex societies of Europe, and with it, those individuals in that society, who in the majority, giving the lie to some of these diplomatic prognostications, became valuable and productive members of our nation.” The author is Prof, of History at Central Washington U. Liehm, Mira and Antonin J. Liehm. THE MOST IMPORTANT ART: East European Film After 1945. U. of California Press, 2223 Fulton St., Berkeley, CA. 94720,1977. 432 pages of text, six page appendix on Socialist Realism, Selected Bibliography, indexes of films, and names, 200 pictures. (467 pages total). $23.50 cloth. 4 NO. 19-20, 1979, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
