Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1980 (8. évfolyam, 23-26. szám)
1980 / 23-24. szám
ARTICLES & PAPERS Barkoczi, Ilona, “A General Overview of the Recent Research" Reports from the Department of General Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, No. 1 (June 1979). Mailing address: 1364 Budapest 4, P.O. Box 107. First in a series of reports to be published under the guidance of the editorial board composed of Jenó Putnoky, Zsuzsanna Kulcsár, and Csaba Ple'h, it summarizes the interest areas and works of the Department of General Psychology since its founding in 1973. The author, who is head of the department, discusses research projects and results under such broad categories as General Psychology, Psychology of Personality, and Research on Social Factors Influencing Child Development. Topics covered include visual perception, memory and speech perception, word meaning, psycholinguistics and creativity, extroversion/introversion, self-concept and self-evaluation, and the development of cognitive processes. The issue identifies both, researchers and coordinators of projects, and presents an extensive bibliography of the sources used. Lekai, Louis J., S.O. Cist., “Hungarian Cistercians in America.” The Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia 79:4 (December 1968) 223-242. The history of the Cicstercian Order in Hungary goes back to 1142 and the founding of the Cikádor Abbey. In 1182 the center of the Hungarian Cistercian Congregation was es-DISSERTATIONS* Beck, Sam (U. of Massachusetts, 1979) Transylvania: The Political Economy of a Frontier. Publication data were not available when HSN went to press. The author criticizes the binary opposing model that divides socialist Romania’s agrarian system into private and non-private sectors. The historical and regional analysis of Poiana Marului, a community in Transylvania’s uplands, demonstrates the inadequacy of dualism and the usefulness of both, the world system approach and the concept of articulating modes of production. The maintenance of the household mode of production in Poiana Marului is explained in terms of frontier processes and marginal integration into the political economy of region and state. The structural elements responsible for the maintenance of the household mode of production is discussed. The social formation dominated by socialist mode of production is analyzed in its articulation both, with the dominating capitalist world system and the dominated household mode of production. The author asserts that dualism is an unsatisfactory base for analysis and that sociocultural diversity in forms of production are acceptable within Romania’s socialist system. The author discusses at length the unequal development of two subregions of southeast Transylvania (Tara Fägärasand Tara Birsei), He is returning to the field for further research, and offers assisting any scholar with interest in field research among national minorities in Romania. For further information write to Dr. Sam Beck, (GM), AmConGen (BUCH), APO, New York 09757. ’Abstracts are usually based on those published in Dissertation Abstracts International. Microfilm and xerox copies of the original full dissertation may be obtained, when indicated, from Xerox University Microfilm 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106. When ordering, use the number shown. 6 tablished at Zirc. Some twelve abbeys were founded but came to a sudden end following the Turkish invasion in 1526. After 1773 and the suppression of the Jesuit Order, Cistercians assumed a major role in education. This role was expanded even further after 1814 when Zirc became independent of foreign control, and the Order’s assets were used to provide quality education, mainly on the secondary level, free or at minimal cost. After World War II the confiscation of all lands, then the dissolution of the Order itself led its members to search for survival outside of Hungary. In the U.S. the Cistercians were established in the 1920s. A house was formed at Spring Bank, Wisconsin and as early as 1946, two Hungarian monks arrived, who took over the Spring Bank, as a new member of the Zirc Congregation. In 1953, almost by chance, a new opportunity presented itself in Texas. At first, it was teaching in parochial schools and at the U. of Dallas. These opportunities were expanded by the founding of a preparatory school in 1961. That the 1968-enrollment was 200 in seven grades, attests to the success of the venture. While financial problems and the problem of vocations continue, the Order has been able to expand. The interesting account of the Order’s history is concluded by a description of The Escape of the ‘2V from Hungary in 1950, related by Father Daniel Csányi, one of the participants. For more information or reprints write to Rev. Louis J. Lekai, Route 2, Box 1, Irving, TX 75062. □ Lekai, Louis J. “Historiography in Hungary, 1790-1848,” Journal of Central European Affairs, 14:1 (April 1954) 1-18. Modern Hungarian historical scholarship can be traced back to the founding of the University of Nagyszombat (now Trnava) by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1635. The rising road of development lead to significant works by George Pray (1723-1801) and Stephen Katona (1732-1811). Events late in the 18th and early in the 19th centuries, such as the dissolution of the Jesuit Order, rigid censorship, the social and administrative reforms of Joseph II, and rising nationalism among the national minorities, prevented linear development. While some writers followed the brilliant French models and others the more conservative German school, a genuine Hungarian school has also emerged. While the Jesuit tradition was disrupted, all activity did not cease. Martin George Kovanich (1743-1821), George Fejér (1766- 1851), and Count Joseph Kemény (1795-1855) and others continued to collect primary sources, and in some instances also published the source documents. The circle around George Bessenyei, head of the noble guard at the court in Vienna, was of great significance, as were the writings of Benedict Virág, which glorified the pre-Christian era of Hungarian history. In the Romantic era, folklore and myth came to be closely associated with history; here Austrian interest in welding the monarchy into a more unified nation predominated in the works of Baron Joseph Hormayr and Count John Majlath. Ignatius A. Fessler further attempted to impose German idealism on historical research. One of the topics that occupied most writers was Hungarian ethnogenesis. When John Sajnovics discovered similarities between Hungarian and Lappish, several writers sought to refute any such relationship, but rather advocating Hun, Avar, and Scythian origin. Stephen Horváth went so far as to attribute all accomplishments of civilization to Hungarians. Neither ecclesiastical nor world history received much attention in the eras of the Enlightenement and of Romaticism, though Western writings were available. The NO. 23-24, SPRING, 1980, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
