Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1984 (12. évfolyam, 39-42. szám)
1984 / 41. szám
Lukács is a member of the Philosophical Institute of the HAS, and Tokéi is affiliated with the Institute of Linguisticsof the HAS. Polisensky, Josef. ARISTOCRATS AND THE CROWD IN THE REVOLUTIONARY YEAR 1848; A Contribution to the History of Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Austria. State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246,1980. ix + 245 pages. $44.00 cloth, $15.95 paper. This study written by a Czech historian concentrates on “early bourgeois revolutions” and counterrevolutions in Austria and Bohemia, especially on those of 1848. The objective is to reevaluate this part of history in view of new data obtained from the family archives of influential aristocrats. Marxist historians from Slovakia and Hungary have recently also been reconsidering the history of 1848, which according to the author unite rather than divide the history of those two peoples. Hungarian references are scarce but invoked when Habsburg manipulation of nationalities is discussed, e.g., application of the traditional means of “divide and conquer”. Reviewers will find that the role of nationalism has not received appropriate treatment. The epilogue “From the Revolution of 1848to the Paris Commune and the First International” concludes that the “Czech bourgeoisie of 1848 was unable and unwilling to lead the struggle for a democratic revolution.. .thereforethe working class was left to lead” it to an eventually successful conclusion. The author is well known for two of his earlier volumes: The thirty Years’ War and the European Crisis of the 17th Century and Napoleon and the Heart of Europe. Both translated from original Czech. Sapora, Allen V. LEISURE SERVICES IN HUNGARY AND ILLINOIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. A summary analysis of the comparative study by László Harangi and Iván Vitányi. Stipes Publishing Company, 10 Chester Street, Champaign, IL 61820,1981.257 pages, graphs, tables, maps, illus. $10.00 paper. This study, heavily illustrated with graphs and tables, compares the Hungarian leisure service system with that of Illinois, in terms of structure, philosophy, administration, facilities, and financial support. It tries to present “a panorama of not only leisure and cultural services but of those functions in a socialist and a capitalist society that have a direct effect of these services." Organized into nine chapters and three appendixes, it includes a summary evaluation of two officials from the Institute for Cultural Research in Budapest, who authored chapter 9. Though they say that in Illinois “institutions function according to identical principles to about the same extent as they do in Hungary,” clarification of this statement may be required for better understanding. Travel abroad was a little organized activity which was restricted to middle and upper class citizens before the war; the existence of politically motivated promotion of tourism on the mass-scale in Germany and Italy, exerted social pressure on Hungarian industry to institute recreational fringe benefits to labor during the 1930s. The Hungarian Manufacturers Association began providing guidance and services to its member industries in regard to leisure services (1941). Simultaneously, the Department of Economics at the Technical University in Budapest, began offering courses on leisure movements and tourism as part of its regular curriculum. These efforts and the pioneering work of Bela DR. LÁSZLÓ VARGHA 1904-1984 Markos, head of the Tourist Office of the City of Budapest, are not mentioned in the publication. The author is prof, emeritus, at the Dept, of Leisure Studies, U. of Illinois. DISSERTATIONS* Crane, Keith William (Indiana U., 1983) “Comparison of Foreign Trade Decision-Making in Poland and Hungary.” 308 pages. Microfilm and xerox no. DA8401562. The study examines the problem of closing the hard currency current account deficit in Poland and Hungary between 1976-80 and 1979-82, respectively. It investigates the hypothesis that the economic cost to Poland of pursuing hard currency current account balance has been greater than that to Hungary mainly because differences in the economic systems in the two countries, not because differences in economic environments and policies. The study begins with a comparison of the economic environments and policies pursued in the two countries, followed by a description of the foreign trade decision-making systems. Hypotheses are developed concerning the allocation of outputs and the choice of inputs. Decisions reported in interviews with enterprise managers are scrutinized to see if hypothesized decisions were consistent with decisions taken. Decisions taken by managers were then compared with the objectives of the central authorities. The comparison indicates that the incentives and instruments employed in the Hungarian system were more effective than those employed in the Polish system. Matulef, Gizelle Beke (Indiana U. 1983) “Hungarian Grotesque-Absurd Drama: Contacts and Paralleles with Western Theater of the Absurd to 1972.” 247 pages. Microfilm and xerox no. DA8401578. The “Theater of the Absurd” as defined by critic M. Esslin was a significant style of dramatic writing which encompassed the works of many dramatists in the 1950s and 1960s. Literary comparatists were aware of this style used by East Central European playwrites in Poland and Czechoslovakia, but not in Hungary. This study examines a significant movement of absurd-style drama in Hungary during the 1960s. The author delineates the concept of the literary grotesque and relates it to the development of the grotesqueabsurd. East-West differences are described “within the historical framework of the East European constraints of socialist realism.” The tradition of the grotesque-absurd, as evidenced in Poland, is shown to have developed in Hungary through the writings of Frigyes Karinthy and Tibor Defy. Translations and productions of Western absurdists' plays, including Waiting for Godot, are discussed. Existentialism and its controversial implications in the plays of Imre Sarkadi (Continued on Page 4) ‘Abstracts are usually based on those published in Dissertation Abstracts International. Microfilm and zerox 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. NO. 41. AUTUMN 1984, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER 3
