Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1980 (8. évfolyam, 23-26. szám)

1980 / 23-24. szám

NSF AWARDS

The National Science Foundation under its Program of Scientific Cooperation with Hungary (not unlike cooperative programs with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. For background information see HSN no. 3, p. 1) activated seven research projects in 1979, and assisted the development of new projects in seven instances. The program gives scientists (mainly natural scientists) an opportunity to learn new techniques, access to complementary expertise and avoids duplication of scientific effort.

The following projects were supported in 1979:

(1) Molecular Structure and Dynamics (36 months): J. Boggs, U. of Texas, Austin and F. Török, Eötvös L. U.;

(2) Kinetic Studies of Carbocationic Polymerization (24 months): J. Kennedy, U. of Akron, F. Tudós and T. Kelen, HAS;

(3) Photoelectric Studies of Bacteriorhodopsin (36 months): H. Fruenfelder and L. Eisenstein, U. of Illinois, and Z. Dancshazy, HAS;

(4) Conversion of Livestock Waste into Animal Feed (36 months): R. P. Tengerdy, Colorado St. U., and T. To'th and J. Holló, U. of Technical Sciences;

(5) Ion Selective Membrane Electrodes (36 months): R. Bates, U. of Florida, and E. Pungor, HAS:

(6) Hormone Binding in Drosophila Cell Lines (12 months): J.O. Connor, UCLA, and M. Marov, HAS;

(7) Identification and Comparison Toxins Produced by the Fungi Stachybotrys and Fusarium (24 months): C. Mirocha, U. of Minnesota, and M. Palyusik, Veterinary Medicine Research Institute.

The following exploratory and developmental grants were made, all for six months terms:

(a) Visiting U.S. scientist: Spinal Cord Mechanism: A. Light, U. of North Carolina, and J. Szentágothai, Semmelweis U.;

(b) Travel to attend the third U.S.-Hungarian conference on joint research in economics, Budapest. T. Wolf, Ohio State U., and M. Marese, U. of British Columbia;

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MEETINGS (Continued)

Toronto, on Oral History: Reflections of Three Waves of HungarianlmmigrantsinOntario;andMar{in L. Kovács,U. of Regina spoke on The Strange Case of Suicide: An Episode from Early Prairie History. In addition, M. Toplak, Lava, Venezuela, presented a paper on Hungarian Schools of Toronto; and George Bisztray represented the Hungarian community in a dialogue between several ethno-cultural communities and the Canadian Government.

HUNGARIAN ECONOMY WORKSHOP. Jointly managed by Paul Marer (School of Business) and Denis Sinor (Dept, of Uralic and Altaic Studies) at Indiana U., a workshop on the Hungarian economy was held in August 1979. The 39 participants included Otto Gadó, former deputy director of the Hungarian Planning Commission, who spoke on “The Political Economy of Hungary’s Post-War Economic Development and the New Economic Mechanism;” and Ma'rton Tardos from the Inst, of Business Cycles and Market Research in Budapest, who opened a discussion on “Hungary’s Foreign Trade and Economic Strategy for the 1980s.” The workkshop was funded by grants from the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Office of Education. LD

HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: TOPIC OF MEETINGS

In November 1979 Enikő' Molnár Basa participated on a panel discussing multiethnic literature in the U.S. (sponsored by the Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States) at the annual conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFEL). Several speakers addressed the feasibility and necessity of incorporating more cultural materials into foreign language courses at the high school and college levels, stressing traditions as part of American way of life, and the need for such literature to bridge the cultural gap confronting the language student. Writings by Hungarian-Americans about life in the mining communities of the Alleghenies, or in the industrial cities of the North-East, share many themes with other ethnic literatures. The transition from nostalgia to positive commitment to their new life is found in some of these writings. Placing such works into a historical perspective, Basa suggested that several periods of literary activity might be identified, and of these, the early decades of this century and the current period are probably the most interesting.

A somewhat fuller study is being prepared by Basa for the Modern Language Association’s forthcoming publication on the literatures of European ethnic groups; this text is to serve as a supplement to American literature as it is generally taught, and it seeks to provide the teacher of literature with some options to a primarily Anglo-American emphasis. Little attention has been paid to this aspect of literature in the past, consequently source materials are scarce. Bibliographies, collections, translations are needed. Reliable lists of journals that regularly publish belles lettristic columns based on the writing of American-Hungarians about their experiences and reactions to life in the U.S., and access to such journals is needed. Basa would appreciate receiving such information. Her home address is 707 Snider Lane, Silver Spring, MD 200904.

At the ACTFEL conference, Peter Basa participated in a workshop on the use of minicomputers in language instruction. Some of the topics explored were the development of program casettes for Hungarian language instruction, and the development of capabilities for displaying and feeding modified letters (with diacritical and accent marks) into the computer.

The fourth of a series of special sessions on Hungarian literature was held at the meeting of the Modern Language Association in San Francisco on December 28, 1979. Anna Katona (College of Charleston) chaired the session devoted to Modern Trends and Issues in Hungarian Literature. Papers were presented on Anna Hajnal’s efforts to come to terms with death in her most recent poetry (Juliette Victor-Rood, Boulder, Col.); on Miklós Radnóti’s use of the French poet Appolinaire (Emery George, U. of Michigan); and two contemporary prose writers who also examined the modern response to death in experimental works blending fiction and reality, the novel and film or TV documentary (Stephen C. Scheer, St. Meinard Coll.). An examination of the theme of self-awareness in La'szló Ne'meth’s Iszony (Zsuzsanna Ozsvath, U. of Dallas) concluded the panel discussion. This was the last in the series of special sessions. The MLA has approved the formation of a discussion group on Hungarian literature which will hold a session on Hungarian literature and translation at the 1980 annual meeting.

NO. 23-24, SPRING, 1980, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

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