Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2000. [Vol. 6.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Book reviews - András Tarnóc: Tibor Frank: Ethnicity, Propaganda, Myth-Making: Studies on Hungarian Connections to Britain and America 1848-1945.

in the international relations explored. Frank describes his own approach as historical philology entailing the identification and rigorous analysis of historical documents via multiple readings. The twenty two articles comprising this truly significant volume represent intercultural communication and appear to share one unifying theme, culture projection. Whereas the term defined by Merelman as "the conscious and unconscious effort by a social group and its allies to place new images of itself before other social groups and the general public" (3) is originally applicable within a macro-social context, the author's scholarly scope suggests the expansion of the culture projection concept on to the global scene recasting the image exchange process not between social groups, but countries. One of the main values of Frank's work is that he does not examine the topics in isolation, but places its subjects in an interactive context. Culture projection can take place in four forms: hegemonic culture projection entails the instigation of the projection process by the privileged group, syncretization means the fusion of various cultural impulses on the part of the initiator, the counter-hegemonic mode sees the less favored or subordinate group as the principal provider of the new images, and polarization suggests a mutual rejection of culture projection. Whereas this approach on the surface appears to suggest a simplified zero-sum game outlook and a hierarchic categorization of countries, it must be noted that culture projection is a highly fluid and volatile process, during which both the image creator and receiver are defined and redefined. Similarly to the societal scene, the question of the (re)establishment of identity is applicable to the book's context. The internal dynamics of a multicultural society can be discerned in the international framework too, as in the present work instead of one multicultural society, three multicultural entities or countries are juxtaposed to each other. Similarly to minority groups victimized by stereotyping, distorted images, or the "a disruption of the organic set of human features for manipulative functions" (Virágos 132) can be applied to nations as well. Consequently, following the pattern of the representatives of minority groups struggling against distorted images, the destruction of Hungarian stereotypes maintained by England and the U.S. was the primary goal of Hungary's political decision makers. The book, however, reveals the principal paradox of culture 222