Századok – 2015
2015 / 3. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Demmel József: Kirándulás a magyar nemzeti múltba? Josef Viktorin szlovák életműve és a visegrádi várromok
556 DEMMEL JÓZSEF Viktorin, who in 1848 was locked up in prison for half a year by the Hungarian authorities on charges of Panslavism, is known in Slovak scholarship for his Slovak national zeal, and, moreover, is regarded hy Slovak historians and literary historians as one of the most talented promoter of Slovak literature of his time. What exactly Viktorin had in mind when, as an engaged champion of Slovak nationalism, he set about the creation of what soon became one of the most important places of Hungarian historical memory, cannot be reconstructed, of course. What seems certain, however, is that the possible answer should be looked for in a conceptional framework constituted by the ancient Slav past of Visegrad, the symbolic and hidden layers of Slovak-Hungarian compromise, Viktorin’s trust in Hungarian liberalism, and hy the idea of an life spent in a constitutional fatherland.
