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

1980 / 23-24. szám

Illyés is the foremost poet and writer of Hungary at the present time.

Tihany, Leslie Charles. THE BARANYA DISPUTE 1918- 1921: Diplomacy in the Vortex of Ideologies. Columbia U. Press, 562 West 113 Street, New York, NY 10025,1978. xii + 138 pages, biblio., selected documents, maps, chronology, illus. $11.00 cloth. East European Monographs, No. XXXV.

At the end of World War I, the County of Baranya was under Serbian occupation. The interplay between local and distant political power centers and ideologies produced a remarkable situation reflecting similar processes on the national and international levels. The author says that beginning with the war, “vertical world conflicts (Reds against Whites) obscuring the earlier, relatively simple strategic phenomenon of sovereign states engaged in horizontal warfares (Germans against Russians) across international frontiers for dynastic or national interests... have shown a tendency to continue within national boundaries among population elements grouped according to particular domestic interests, as revolutionary struggles and civil wars for self-assertion between historically dominant and traditionally subordinate classes respectively embattered for and against the internal status quo.” In Baranya, three political processes stood out: rivalry between the local right and left; the changes in the orientation of the Budapest government;andSerbian efforts to keep the territory within the incipient successor state of Yugoslavia. Local politicians of the left thought of maintaining theirgains by proclaiming a Hungarian-Serbian Baranya Republic at the eve of Serbian troop withdrawals in August 1921. They were hoping to put the newly proclaimed mini-state under Yugoslav protection. When on August 20 Serbian troops began their withdrawal, some 2,700 men and their families left with them, fearing Hungarian governmental reprisals. The author gives a brief but scholarly description of the area, the history of Baranya, and a sociography of Pecs, then follows events under the Károlyi, Kun and Horthy regimes, and the interplay of political forces that sealed the fate of the short-lived, courageous but naive Baranya Republic. According to the East-Central Europe, the book is a “major contribution to European historical literature.”

The author is a former Foreign Service Officer and professor of history. For review of his earlier book see HSN

no. 13, p. 5.

Varga, Béla, DÁVID FERENC AZ UNITÁRIUS VALLAS.

[Ferenc Dávid and the Unitarian Religion], Magyarországi Unitárius Egyház, H-1055 Budapest, Nagy Ignác utca 4,1979. 164 pages, illus. Ft 80.00 (about $5.00) paper.

The Hungarian Unitarian Church published this handsome booklet to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of its founder and first bishop, Ferenc (Francis) David (1510- 1579). It contains the re-edited transcript of lectures on the life, martyrdom, and teachings of David, delivered by the late author during the interwar period. Thus, in a sense, it commemorates his person and his work, as well. The lectures which are printed in Hungarian, are followed by an English summary and an English chapter on the Unitarian faith written by Rev. Vilma Szántho/Harrington, first published in the Series of Community Pulpit of the Community Church, Unitarian, of New York (1967). Harrington emphasizes that “Unitarians have no Doctrine, only Principles of faith. But there are in the Unitarian membership generally accepted views and principles regarding religion which more or less

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

shape the Unitarian collective consciousness.” The volume has little reference to world-Unitarianism, but deals effectively with theological aspects of the early days and with the general climate of tolerance in which Transylvanian princes and diets were able to assure religious freedom long before any other society in Europe.

The late author was professor of theology, philosophy, and education, as well as Bishop of the Unitarian Church at Kolozsvár (now Cluj, Romania).

Ives, Margaret C. ENLIGHTENMENT AND NATIONAL REVIVAL: Patterns of Interplay and Paradox in Late 18th Century Hungary. With a selection of documents in translation. University Microfilm International, Ann Arbor, Ml 48108,

1979. 270 pages, biblio. $23.85 cloth.

This is a competent study of the enlightenment in Hungary by an English scholar who is specializing in the German Aufklärung. As it is rather an intellectual history than a conventional history of literature in a particular period, the author pays attention to contemporary press and pamphlets besides the traditional protagonists of the Hungarian felvilágosodás, like Bessenyei and other fesfor/ro'k.The selection of texts, which forms the greater part of the book includes excerpts from Bessenyei, Barcsay, Orczy, Dugonics, Gvadanyi, Batsányi and Karmán, besides short passages from the contemporary press, material relating to the Martinovics conspiracy and anonymous pamphlets published around 1790. In addition there is an annotated bibliography. (LC)

Adler, Lory and Richard Dalby. THE DERVISH OF WINDSOR CASTLE: The life of Armenius Vambery. Bachman and Turner Ltd., 1/3 Central Buildings, 24 Southwark Street, London S.E.1, 1979. 512 pages, notes, illus., maps, biblio. $7.50 cloth.

This is the first book-size biography of A'rmin Vambery (1832-1913), the noted orientalist of Hungarian origin. The authors utilize archive materials and Vambery’s own narrative of his life and travels, following his career in detail from his early childhood. Special attention is paid to his explorations in Central Asia and his connections with British policy-making in that area. The bibliography contains Vambery’s works in all languages, including his articles in periodicals. (LC)

Congrat-Butlar, Stefan, ed. TRANSLATION & TRANSLATORS: an International Directory and Guide. R.R. Bowker Co., 1180 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, 1979. 241 pages, index. $35.00 cloth.

The concept of this directory and guide evolved from the need to document and record the global status of a profession that seems to be coming into its own. This volume is first in a projected multivolume series entitled Materials for a History of Translation. The first chapter on Recent History and Breakthroughs lists significant developments since the introduction of simultaneous interpretation at the Nuremberg trials. Associations and Centers lists 84 translator groups in 35 countries. It lists the Magyar írók Szövetségének Műfordítói Szakosztálya (Literary Translators’Section of the Union of Hungarian Writers), 1062 Budapest, Bajza utca 18, as member of the International Federation of Translators. Next, the book lists sources of awards, fellowships, prizes, and grants. The "Memorial Medal of the Hungarian Pen Club" is one of them. It was awarded 42 times since 1948. The list of some 92 training programs in 13 countries is followed by a section on codes of practices,

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