A Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár évkönyve 2002-2003-2004

TANULMÁNYOK - Gyáni Gábor: Modernitás és hagyomány a nagyvárosi fejlődésben, különös tekintettel Budapestre

Gábor Gyáni

MODERNITY AND TRADITION IN THE METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO BUDAPEST

Modernity, tradition and the long term close connection between them form the streamline of this study. Several examples prove that the modern metropolitan development is not only deeply rooted in the context of historical tradition but also cooperates with it both in terms of its genesis and operational mechanism. In showing the civilization progress of the spectacularly modernized infrastructure of transport in the 19th century - which is the most widespread example - one cannot give an authentic image of the true mental profile of the city.

The concept of habitual memory, which means that physical practices unintentionally maintain customs rooted in the past and routine activities, can be traced directly in certain incidents of the city transport and people's life. What Connerton described and Assmann defined as cultural memory is historicism manifesting itself in civic design and space forming practices.

The facts of traditional behavior described as habitual memory appear inscribed in stones of the city, the buildings of which as permeated by the spirit of the past contain a lot of historical architectural references.

All these show us that the metropolis considered to be symbol of the motor drive of the modernizing development and modernity was at the same time a mixture of revolutionary renewal and historical archaism. This ambivalence which strained all cities internally in the 19th century is the real conundrum of the age of modernity.

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