Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1985 (13. évfolyam, 43-46. szám)

1985 / 46. szám

HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

No. 46 ISSN: 0194-164X WINTER, 1985-86

Published quarterly by the Hungarian Research Center of the American Hungarian Foundation: Winter, Spring (two numbers included), and Autumn, Founder and editor: Bela Charles Maday; Managing editor: August J. Molnár. Communications concerning content should be addressed to the Editor, 4528-49th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20016. Communications concerning subscriptions, advertising, and circulation should be addressed to American Hungarian Foundation, 177 Somerset Street, P.O. Box 1084, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Annual Subscription in the U.S.A. $5.00. Abroad $7.00. Current single copy $3.00; back isues $3.50 each.

BOOKS (Continued)

COLUMBIA DICTIONARY OF MODERN EUROPEAN LITERATURE. ed. by Jean-Albert Bede and William B. Edgerton.

2nd edition. Columbia U. Press, 562 West 113th Street, New York, NY 10025, 1980. xxi + 895 pages. $60.00 cloth.

The essay on Hungarian liturature gives a good overview of the 20th century, reaching back to its historical roots in the era of the Compromise of 1867 and touching on each of the major movements and figures of the period. The central role of the Nyugat is made clear by references and general narrative, but other important journals are not slighted. New literary phases, changes in cultural policy are duly noted and assessed. The important chapter on Hungarian literature outside the boundaries of Hungary since 1919 is comprehensive. Major trends both in Hungary proper and in the neighboring lands are discussed up to the present time. The volume seems to be more representative than any other dictionary or survey. (E. Molnár-Basa)

Hazan, Baruch A. THE EAST EUROPEAN POLITICAL SYSTEM: Instruments of Power. Foreword by Lonnie R. Johnson. Westview Press, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301, 1985. xvi + 396 pages, tables, figures. Westview Special Studies on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. $25.00 cloth (library quality soft cover).

The political and social dynamics of the East Central European countries have certain common denominators but at the same time they show culture-specific differences. The study addresses itself to the formal structures of East European politics and the function of the party organization as a true center of power. It discusses characteristics of the system such as elections, national assemblies, political and social structures, party vs. government, party vs. churches, auxiliary organizations, with extensive coverage of the Hungarian scene. The author lists three “self-evident facts: (1) the East European systems are essentially Soviet in format; (2) the Soviet influence in Eastern Europe is extensive; (3) all socialist countries including Albania and Yugoslavia have preserved the basic characteristics of the “partiocracy.” Thus, concludes the author, changes in the format may be introduced accidentally, but the substance of the system does not change. The ruling elites in both, the USSR and East Central Europe have common interests in the preservation of the system. “The system never errs.” Under present circumstances there is no chance of significantly changing the system.

2

The author teaches at the Institute of European Studies, Vienna, Austria. We were disappointed to observe the absence of diacritical marks in general and on Hungarian words particularly.

Kann, Robert A. and Zdenek V. David. THE PEOPLES OF THE EASTERN HABSBURG LANDS, 1526-1918. U. of Washington Press, P.O. Box C-50096, Seattle, WA 98145-5096. Volume 6 in the History of East Central Europe, 1984. xvi+543 pages, biblio. essay, map. $30.00 cloth.

This study takes each ethnic group within the Habsburg Empire through the different stages in the monarchy’s evolution, reviewing systematically various aspects and issues over the entire 400 years. In the final and culturally focused chapter (Patterns of Spiritual National Development, 1526-1918), the following broad historical issues are discussed: “(1) the effect of the Reformation and Counter Reformation and, in regard to the latter, the whole Baroque era in the cultural field; (2) the impact of the Turkish occupation of Hungary on the Eastern Habsburg peoples, who suffered either directly or indirectly from this longlasting historical experience; (3) the Enlightenment, French Revolution, and Napoleonic wars in their direct and indirect influence; (4) the influence of the reactionary Restoration period after the Napoleonic wars until the Revolution of 1948; and (5) the era of nation unification of Germany and Italy and the following period of European imperialism, including the great showdown in World War I." Major chapter topics follow chronological periods of Habsburg history. Within each period the Croats, Czechs, Magyars, Serbs, Slovaks, and Slovenes are reviewed, along with Romanians settled in Bukovina, and the Ruthenians of Bukovina and Transcarpathia. Not covered are the Poles and the majority of the Romanians and Ruthenians, who are included in other volumes in the History of East Central Europe series.

The late Robert A. Kann was professor of history, Rutgers U., and Z.V. David is librarian of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington D.C.

Magocsi, Paul Robert. GALICIA: A Historical Survey and Bibliographic Guide. Toronto University Press (In association with the Canadian Institute of Ukranian Studies and the Harvard Ukranian Research Institute), 33 East Tupper Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, 1983 (Second printing: 1985). xx+299 pages, maps. $24.95 cloth.

This volume is exactly what its title promises: a historical survey and bibliographic guide of the historic region of Southwest Poland and the Northwest Ukrainian S.S.R. The first attempt to present a survey of Galician history occurred in 1792 when Johann Christian von Engel published his History of Galicia-Volhyna, representing the Austro- Hungarian interpretation of the region’s past. Though Galicia’s history was not void of armed clashes between internal and external forces, her influence on neighboring Hungary was more in the cultural than military realm. It was this region where Ukrainian nationalism was kept alive through scholarship and political activity, and Galicia was crucial to the Polish national revival. At the same time, the Jews of Galicia made important contributions to regional Jewish culture. Up to the publication of the volume before us, there was no adequate guide or even a comprehensive bibiography of the proliferating literature. The guide has ten chapters and the arrangement of the 3,000 entries is basically chronological. Scholars with interest in the region will find this volume of unique value.

NO. 46. WINTER, 1985-1986, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER