Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1985 (13. évfolyam, 43-46. szám)
1985 / 46. szám
DISSERTATIONS (Continued) If demographic trends continue, it is not impossible that the poverty population may be composed solely of women and their children by the year 2000. Given that women’s caregiving work is critical to society, this study asks how it is that income support policies apparently support these households more poorly than policies undergirding male based families. The study examines income support strategies for female householders in the U.S., Hungary, Israel, and Sweden. The U.S. policies, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and Survivor Benefits were examined. Foreign policies were considered as well as proposals for waging domestic sector work and development of alternative models. Examination of policies abroad revealed that many aimed at bringing about sexual, and ecomomic equality. Yet, they are still poorer than male householders, and women are still concentrated in low wage occupations and suffer from dual work loads. The study concludes that one way for policy to impact the income and work load discrepancies women face is to develop methods for waging caregiving work. The final section of the study examines “parent wages" and “wages for housework." □ Ng-Quinn, David (Stanford U., 1984) “Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, OP 20 for Solo Piano by Bela Bartók: Analysis, and Study of Bartok’s Recordings.” 161 pages, Microfilm and xerox order no. DA8429573. This study is concerned with the roots, structures, and Barto'k’s performance of the eight improvisations (1920), each being based on a different Hungarian peasant melody collected by Bartók and other Hungarian scholars. The study examines these Hungarian peasant melodies, the roots of the improvisations, which are classified according to Bartdk's system of classification documented in his book The Hungarian Folksong (first published in Hungarian in 1924). Next, the organic structure of the improvisations and the ways the Hungarian melodies are incorporated into the pieces are studied. Finally, Bartdk’s performance of seven of the eight improvisations, preserved in recordings collected in The Centenary Edition of Bartdk's Records made by Hungaroton in 1981, and how his playing relates to the score are examined in detail. D Nydon, Judith A. (U. of Massachusetts, 1984) “Public Policy and Private Fertility Behavior: The Case of Pronatalist Policy in Socialist Romania.” 437 pages. Microfilm and xerox order no. DA8500110. This summary is presented here because of the obvious impact Romanian fertility measures have on the Hungarian minority population. The author presents an analysis of the Romanian fertility transition and the problematic relation between the Romanian Government’s strongly pronatalist policy stance and the desires of the Romanian populace to minimize fertility. Assessment focuses on the socialist state’s changing policies and their combined effects on daily life and fertility patterns. It is argued that fertility goals as expressed by the state cannot possibly be realized except at great human cost. Pronatal measures enacted by the government, including both coercive and non-coercive types, have by and large failed to produce desired fertility increases. The reasons for this failure are analyzed; fertility-related issues and problems are discussed in some depth from the perspectives of families and women, and as a consequence of contradictions arising between the perceived needs of these groups and those of the state. Policy suggestions offered which are designed to 4 raise present fertility levels by attempting to bring into greater harmony the reproductive needs and goals of individuals and households with those of the state. Finally, socialist fertility transition patterns and processes are contrasted to those which typify Western, and Third World populations. D ARTICLES AND PAPERS Beck, Sam. “Toward International Ethnology: An Interview with Tamas Hofer," Newsletter of the East European anthropology Group, 4:2 (Spring 1985) 6-26. The author elaborates on his theoretical and ethical views in regard to conducting field work by American scholars in socialist societies on the one hand, and doing field work abroad by students of socialist countries on the other. He recognizes dangers to academic freedom and objectivity if the funding of such field research involves government grants. The seven-page essay isfollowed by the transcript of an interview with Hofer. Questions aimed at Hofer’s role as an “international anthropologist,” at his relationship to government and as an exchange scholar funded by government, an evaluation of the importance of American anthropology doing fieldwork in East Central Europe, and at the practical application of findings by scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. Hofer described the academic relations between American and East Central European social scientists as fruitful to more or less all participants. □ A partial bibliography of recent doctoral dissertations and masters theses related to Hungary can be found in A XXIV. Magyar találkozó krónikája (Chronicles of the 24th Hungarian Congress) ed. by János Nádas and Ferenc Somogyi, Cleveland: Árpáid Publishing Co., 1425 Grace Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44107, pages 133-138. The list was compiled by József Széplaki (Phillipsburg, NJ) and contains 72 entries, bibliographical references of 14 doctoral dissertations and 51 masters theses accepted by U.S. universities, as well as 7 dissertations accepted by universities in Great Britain. Earlier lists of dissertations and theses were published in the 1973 and 1982 issues of the Chronicle. Q Hofer, Tamás. “The Perception of Tradition in European Ethnology,” Journal of Folklore Research 21:2/3(1984) 133147. Hagyomány, the Hungarian word for tradition means also “bequest” and “legacy.” Originally tradition encompassed the notions of “divorce” and “separation.” The concept tradition first appeared in 1641. In 1981 North-European ethnographers selected “tradition research” as the principal theme of their annual meeting in Liperi, Finland. In the second half of the 19th century when the foundations of ethnographic research were laid down, tradition was an emotionally loaded term. It was not perceived and used as a kind of repertoire of the customs and habits, rites and trades endangered by industrialization and urbanization. In East Central Europe the concept included two characteristics: the presence of a wide gap between the concept of tradition and the concept of national identity, to a point where intellectuals spoke of cultural dualism. In addition, in Hungary peasant culture was perceived as having preserved oriental properties. “Real Hungarian traits” were thought of as cultural patterns of the peasantry while traits of the upper strata, were spoiled by Western ideologies and industrial advancement. The term isstill farfrom having a uniform usage in Europe. When Peter Burks in England writes about popular culture, the content is not identical with the cultural phenomena covered by such NO. 46. WINTER, 1985-1986, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
