Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Book reviews - László Dányi: Methods and History: A Milestone in American Studies in Hungary. (Vadon Lehel: Az amerikai irodalom és irodalomtudomány bibliográfiája a magyar időszaki kiadványokban 1990-ig)

press, book reviews and reports on anthologies in Hungarian, and miscellaneous. The 'Appendix' containing the chronological listing of the 1619 periodicals that were examined designates those 395 publications the data of which were absorbed into the bibliography. The 'Index of Names' and the 'Index of Translators' alphabetize all the personal names that occur in the bibliographic title-descriptions, but they do not quote names from the publishing data, pseudonyms, pen-names, acronyms, abbreviations, monograms or initials. When writing about a book like this, I cannot avoid the question of utility. Besides being an invaluable philological aid to americanists, librarians, literati, historians, sociologists and students, the book will accelerate processes that will encourage those who want to carry out research in this area. By enhancing the search for new topics it should be an indispensable book for professors and students in higher education and in Ph.D. courses. Furthermore, among the public for American Studies, I must include the audience which, according to Jay Gurian, has a special significance in relation to the discipline, as this inclusion establishes the totality of the discipline. He writes, "If we have a 'method,' it is the approach to ideas and consequences in the round - a total approach something like the 'total theatre' of Bertold Brecht. From the communication point of view, American Studies wants more than most disciplines to include its audiences." The book opens new vistas since the author does not regard 1990 as a boundary for his research, and he is aware of the transience of such a study, so he includes some references and data from later years. Secondary sources from the 1990s are mentioned related to Kimberley M. Blaeser and Patricia Riley. The choice is not accidental as it indicates new fields of American Studies by focusing on ethnic literature. Not only does the Bibliography perform the task of being a literary document, but by considering the Hungarian authors of secondary sources, the issues and topics that were explored by them, the politicoideological commitment of the media, and the indoctrination of the reading public the reader may explore the intriguing questions of the Jay Gurian. "American Studies and the Creative Present." Midcontinent American Studies Journal (Spring 1969.) 126