Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)

Interethnic spaces

164 József Liszka

1 Literally Land of Matthias.

2 The Hungarians were given over to Turks/ Who rounded up lots of people from Sarlóköz, and the mellow Mátyus földe (land of Mátyus)/ From Szala, Somogy, and Szerém/ And the wide Hungarian Plain (translated by Sándor Bondor).

3 Occasionally the term Mátyusföld is connected to the Hungarian King Matthias. This is obviously a misinterpretation or a folk-etymology.

4 Today Levice in Slovakia.

5 Slovak denominations of mentioned toponyms: Trenčín (Trencsén), Komárno (Komárom), Bratislava (Pozsony), Štúrovo (Párkány), Nádszeg (Trstice), Nové Zámky (Újvár).

5 The then cultural politics of Hungary proclaimed the collection Mátyusföldi gyermekjátékok by József Bakos to be “harmful”, since it harmed the neighbouring nations, mainly Slovaks in their pride. For this reason, it had Bakos’s book (published as the 7th volume of New Hungarian Collection of Folk-Poetry, and as a source material represented a considerable value) pulped (Határozat...1953).

6 Podunajská nizina in Slovak, for a detailed descritpion see Danter this volume.

7 Ethnographic atlases such as the Magyar néprajzi atlasz or the Etnografický atlas Slovenska do not provide any guidelines concerning the circumscription of the Mátyusföld region (Barabás 1987-1992, Kovačevičová 1990).

8 Senec and Košice, are towns in Slovakia, Cegléd in Hungary.

9 It is obviously a mistake. The authors must have meant the south-eastern part.