Magyar Hírek, 1983 (36. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)

1983-10-15 / 21. szám

ABOUT THIS ISSUE - AND THE PREVIOUS ONE THE BOARD OF PATRONS MEETS Various editorial considerations, and to some degree chance, meant that the issues of Magyar Hírek, which have carried English supplements so far have all been double numbers. Instead of the usual fortnightly issues, monthly ones appeared, which meant in prac­tice that each issue had an English sup­plement. Now, that Magyar Hírek re­sumed the usual forthnightly publica­tion schedule there was no English supplement in the last issue. (No. 20) I had of course stated right at the start that the Hungarian Scene would be published monthly, thus in every second issue of Magyar Hírek. The supplement is part of this number now, and will come to you again in a month’s time, in No. 23. First of all, I should like to give an account of some of the interesting articles published in the previous is­sue. The review by László Garami of a book by the young sociologist Tibor Simó on the life of Tard, a small Hun­garian village, presents the Hungar­ian reality oftoday inan extraordinari­ly vivid way. It is more than like­ly that the name of this village catches the ear of fellow countrymen of ma­ture years since the publication of “The situation at Tard” in 1936 by the then 22 years old Zoltán Szabó, raised the alarm in Hungarian public opinion. The book, which ex­posed the defencelessness and misery of the Hungarian peasantry, was one of the classics of sociography, which prompted many young writers to un­dertake the task of village exploration in order to bring the whole truth to the surface. It is to Simó’s credit that he in no way meant to make compari­sons with a past age when he started work in 1979/80. He wanted to show the present situation using the method­ology of modem sociology, the social stratification and way of life of a Hun­garian village today including the ex­pectations of the inhabitants. The book shows that the youngest genera­tion is one of commuters also at Tard, for 82,8 per cent of them work else­where, the village is merely their dor­mitory. The life strategy of this genera­tion is characterized by career-con­sciousness, they are skilled workers, and do not work in agriculture. Two-thirds of the middle generation also lead commuters’ lives, but only one-third of them have trade skills, and house­hold fanning plays a considerable role in their earnings. Thanks to these, modem homes with all mod. cons, are built and many private cars are own­ed by these people. The third, and oldest generation also contributes to the family endeavours, working main­ly in the cooperative and household farms. Family solidarity is an impor­tant motive of the prosperity of the village. Even the neighbours cooper­ate, they mutually infonn one another about yields, trade news, the market, and assist freely in work, for instance house building. The conclusion drawn by Simó is worthy of note: “Society must understand”, he writes, “that the state can neither undertake, nor solve the task of making citizens happy, or of changing underprivileged social sit­uations. The government should not try to make people happy, but should create alternatives for citizens en­abling them to progress thanks to their own efforts. It should assist every am­bition, by way of which individuals can improve their underprivileged sit­uation.” The previous number of Magyar Hírek also carried a report on the meet­ing of the board of the World Federa­tion of Hungarians which took place between 29 August and 2nd Sep­tember. The meeting was attended by 21 invited representatives of Hungar­ian societies living in every part of the world. The Delegates discussed the major aims of the World Federation: work done in the past, and more work in the future, in the interest of preserv­ing the native language, and Hungar­ian identity. The People’s Stadium was complet­ed thirty years ago. The news will surely awake reminiscences in many of our readers, since the Stadium has been the venue of many notable sports events, among them the football match in which the Hungarian “golden team” beat England. Alas, Hungarian football cannot boast of similar results nowadays, but the People’s Stadium keeps on being the venue of sports events of international importance. A pictorial report on the subject was published in the last issue, the pre­sent one contains a short report in the English supplement, which also in­cludes other news from the world of Hungarian sport. Of the Hungarian material of the present issue, I should like to call the attention of readers to an article de­scribing how the students of the sum­mer course of the Debrecen Univer­sity, coming from every part of the world have got acquainted with the Hungarian history, literature, culture, and language (p. 12.). An interesting writing informs you, what the Hun­garian public, and the world-famous Pierre Cardin expects from the open­ing of the new modist’s showroom in Budapest (pp. 8-9.). There is a portrait of the director of the State Ballet Institute (pp. 14 — 15.), and we continue our report about the meet­ing of the representatives of Hungar­ian societies living abroad. Once again let me say that I am looking forward to receiving your criti­cism and suggestions concerning the English supplement. Thank you in ad­vance. X" Imre Dózsa, director of the State Ballet Institute with Karola Szalay PHOTO: BÉLA MEZEY For some decades now the board of patrons of the native language move­ment (PNLM) has been meeting half way between two conferences. The meeting held in August 1983 proved that the native language movement has progressed with un­changed impetus in the present, ten­sion-ridden world conditions; and it has done that in a specific, very sen­sitive field, which connects the Hun­garian diaspora of the Western world with contemporary Hungary, extend­ing over geographic borders, and bringing closer together communities based on differing principles. A two-way exchange process unfold­ed from the contributions which char­acterizes routine activities: school­books and lecturers are sent from Hun­gary, while artists, poets, scientists, and businessmen, clerics and doctors come to visit the country.. UNCHANGED PRINCIPLES This meeting was a productive working conference. It evaluated the events of the past two years, defined the tasks for the next two, and agreed to hold the Native Language Confer­ence in 1985, as scheduled. Participants agreed that the basic principles were unchanged and valid. That is that there is need to con­tinue work, enlisting the support of as many as possible towards the preser­vation of ensuring and familiarization with Hungarian culture and the lan­guage, supplying school-books and teaching aids needed for the purpose. The institutional framework, such as the children’s and youth camps at Lake Balaton and Sárospatak, or the postgraduate course for teachers at Debrecen, will be broadened. The net­work of the dance groups, choirs, and orchestras will also be broadened and assisted. The report received from Unesco conferences on the cultural rights of ethnic communities of various coun­tries, where the Hungarian Native Language Movement was thought high­ly of and talked about as a success­ful model to be followed, strengthen­ed participants in the belief that the course they had chosen was sound. The principle that the movement should be built on the awareness of dual identity remains unchanged. The movement urges Hungarians in other countries to be good citizens of the states where they settled, while they should not forget, but cultivate, their cultural heritage, and the Hungarian language. This principle enabled Hun­garians in a good number of countries to utilize the multicultural efforts made in their chosen home by the government and society at large in the interest of preserving the culture of ethnic groups seizing hold of the op­portunities offered. Swedish institu­tional forms and the situation in Al­bany N. Y. were mentioned. The determination to exclude cur­rent politics from the native language movement continues. Current politics could endanger the realization of the original targets and make it more dif­ficult to implement the defined needs. THE COURSE OF PROGRESS At the same time, the native lan - guage movement must not become rig -Károly Ginter, author of several text-books for Hungarian children living abroad lectures the pedagogue section of the meeting FOTÓ: GÁBOR VIKTOR id and immobile but must keep in step with changes, renewing its means and methods all the time. What does that involve? Notwithstanding the popularity of the children’s camps at Lake Balaton, it must be said that their growth over the past ten years came to a halt in 1983. The children are growing up, they graduate to high­er forms, as attested by the increas­ed interest in the next step, the youth summer course at Sárospatak. It is nec­essary to change the curriculum and the form of exchange of experience at the Debrecen post-graduate course. The number of university students en­rolled at Hungarian universities doubled this year, and the English section of the Jurisich Gimnázium at Kőszeg will start on its first course. New ways need to be worked out for exploratory travel of the native land. Just as Magyar Hírek is experimenting with an English supplement, to give a better understanding of Hungarian af­fairs to the generations born in settler countries, so the Hungarian associa­tions and Churches will have to try to prepare themselves to meet the de­mands of the change of generations. The education of young people and their vigorous participation in the native language movement is a crucial question for these Hungarian institu­tions. The meeting was held in a good at­mosphere. Participants exchanged views rich in suggestions that were to the point and shortcomings were not glossed over either. Yet perhaps the changes which have occurred in the composition of Hungarians living in Western countries were not given as much attention as needed. It is ex­tremely important for changes in ways of life to be monitored. One must have an understanding of the ways in which unemployment influences their everyday lives and what economic problems mean, for instance, as regards their regular visits to Hungary. More could be done about technical renewal and the general spread of mod­ern, highly effective methods, adjust­ing to the needs of the videoage. All this will have to be made up for during the years to come, giving room to creative ideas in the Hungarian scene of all the countries of settlement. MIKLÓS SZÁNTÓ 28

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