Magyar Hírek, 1988 (41. évfolyam, 1-22. szám)
1988-04-22 / 8. szám
ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND THE PREVIOUS ONE The Budapest Saint Stephen Basilica (air photograph) Our previous issue included an interview with Barna Sarkadi Nagy, Deputy-Chairman of the State Office for Denominational Affairs. When he was asked whether the stable nature of relations between the Hungarian state and the religious denominations meant that there were no open issues Sarkadi Nagy answered that he would pose the question differently. In his opinion matters awaiting solution are not in themselves problems, but such issues have always existed and still exist. New ideas and new suggestions always crop up, and when these express real social demands, the state endeavours to realize them. The Roman Catholic Church, for instance, wished to extend the scope of religious instruction, locating it not only in schools and churches but also in parish halls. The Church also took the initiative in the establishment of an order of nuns devoted to the care of the sick. The shortage of clergymen is not due to any restrictions — he said. Enrolment at seminaries and theological academies is not subject to any limitations. The fact that the number of vocations declined most in the case of Roman Catholics must be due to social causes. The next question concerned the relation of the sects and the state. Sarkadi Nagy emphasised that Seventh Day Adventists, Baptists, and Pentacostals are considered to be denominations of equal status. Members may practice their religion under the acknowledged, legal conditions. “Negotiations with the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been going on for years, and we sincerely hope to reach an agreement soon on some contentious issues” Barna Sarkadi Nagy added. Turning to the restoration of historic relics of the Churches Sarkadi Nagy was asked about the views of the Hungarian government concerning financial help from abroad for such purposes. He said that historic relics in the care of the Churches are also part of the national heritage, and the Hungarian government provides assistance for their maintenance. Naturally, the governmentlike the denominations—welcomes help from abroad for this purpose. An example is the help provided by the Emanuel foundation of New York for the renovation of the Dohány utca synagogue. Help from abroad for the renovation of the Budapest Saint Stephen Basilica is also welcome. Problems and Prospects of Jouth Several articles in the Hungarian part of the present issue deal with problems and prospects of the youth. István Harcsa, a noted sociologist, in an interview with Éva Árokszállási pointed out that Hungarian youth in our days leaves the parental home, starting a life of their own much later then the previous generations did. The reason for this is—Harcsa says—is a growth in the negative generation gap in incomes. The age differentiation has, in recent decades, become much larger, to the disadvantage of the young. Another drawback is the shortage of housing and the excessive cost of what is available. In the seventies 40 per cent of the new homes were relatively cheap, rented flats, their ratio today is just 10 per cent. The disproportion between the housing costs and the diminishing real-incomes of the young has grown essentially. One of the consequences is a greater dependence of the young on their parents, which means a greater burden on parents who are forced into an open ended support of adult children. Some may think that this growing dependence makes the bonds between the generations stronger. That is however not so. The young want more independence and the present situation has an adverse influence on their socialization — Harcsa argues. Other articles in this issue present a more favourable picture. The portrait of a young bank manager is the careerstory of a twenty five year old businessman, who—thanks to his talents, ambition and some good luck—became the manager of one of the new banks. A young actress who made her name in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible speaks optimistically of her plans. The members of a recently founded cooperative at the University of Economics called Economix are making some extra money for themselves as well as using a part of their profit to support cultural activities at the university. The sombre mood is there again, however in some of the interviews with six young people working in a pharmaceutical works. Most of them feel the pressure of financial anxieties and some of them hesitate about starting a family. “I cannot see myself ever living in a home of my own—one of them says—unless I make a good marriage or win the pools.” “Nyugat” first appeared eighty years ago. An article by Béla Pomogáts in the Hungarian part of this issue discusses Nyugat, a journal which first appeared eighty years ago, and had a lasting influence not only on Hungarian literature and the arts but indeed on social thought in Hungary. Nineteenth century European liberalism was the intellectual background of the new journal. The contributors to Nyugat wedded liberal ideals and an awareness of social and national responsibility — writes Béla Pomogáts. They were convinced that the whole social life of the country had to be renewed, and not just Hungarian literature and culture. Writers of the Nyugat-circle also looked for new answers to the problem of national minorities, for ways that also encompassed the protection of their collective rights. The attitude to literature of Nyugat was the child of libertarian ideals. The notion of the autonomy of the creative individual stood at the centre. They regarded literature and intellectual life in general as the free republic of autonomous creative individuals, and detested the thought of restricting the growth of individual talents. Thus Nyugat did not commit itself to any literary school. Symbolism, neo-romanticism, art nouveau and naturalism are equally present in its pages. At the same time Nyugat endeavoured to purify and maintain the noble traditions of classical Hungarian literature. According to Pomogáts, writings in Nyugat were often eclectic in style yet poems and»prose alike were in a recognisable Nyugat spirit. Great poets of the era like Endre Ady, Mihály Babits, Dezső Kosztolányi, Árpád Tóth, Gyula Juhász and Milán Füst became widely known thanks to Nyugat. The best writers of prose fiction, like Zsigmond Móricz, Gyula Krúdy, Frigyes Karinthy, Margit Kaffka, Józsi Jenő Tersánszky were also contributors, just like eminent essayists such as Ignotus, Ernő Osváth, Lajos Hatvány, Miksa Fenyő and Aladár Schöpfiin. Béla Pomogáts traces the story of the journal itself as well as of the writers, poets, artists grouped around. Many of them took part in the revolutionary movements of 1918/19, which forced them to keep a low profile in the conservative times which followed. But Nyugat continued as an important intellectual workshop even then, offering a platform to members of the second and the third generation. And these—Attila József, Lőrincz Szabó, Gyula Illyés, László Németh, Sándor Márai, László Cs. Szabó, Tibor Déry, Miklós Radnóti, István Vas, Sándor Weöres, Géza Ottlik—also became prominent figures in the history of Hungarian prose and verse. When fascism made headway Nyugat isolated itself from politics rejecting right as well as the left. The reason behind that was not compromise but the consideration that traditional conservatism impregnated with the spirit of the nation might become an ally against growing barbarism. The stronger the fascist threat became and the greater the threat of war the more steadfast was the resistance of the men around Nyugat. In the hard years of the war the journal was published under the name Magyar Csillag and edited by Gyula Illyés, who gathered the most important literary figures around the journal. There is no doubt—Béla Pomogáts points out—that Nyugat played a part in the intellectual resistance of Europe. * By some good fortune an English language anthology of poetry containing gems of Hungarian poetry from the early, beginnings until today just reached me. The translations are the work of Watson Kirkconnel, (1895-1977) a Canadian university teacher, who taught at Acadia and eventually became the President of that university. He worked for forty years translating Hungarian poems into English. Originally the translator wished to publish a volume of 509 poems in 1977, but funds were lacking. Publication was now made possible by the Széchenyi Society of Canadian Hungarians (Calgary). The translations of Watson Kirkconnel, who has died in the meantime, were edited by László Duska. We are happy and proud to print some poems by Nyugat in this issue. ZOLTÁN HALÁSZ
