1988. szeptember (209-245. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
| «HWM SARIAM ^ SíMmI Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN * Tel. 01-430 2126 (írom abroad 441-430 2126) 223/1988 (E) 9th September, 1988 Protests Against the Appointment of András Knopp as Under Secretary Of State About forty writers who belong to the populist trend in Hungárián literature called András Knopp,a key Party official, the Haynau of Hungárián intellectual and cultural life in a declaration in which they protest against his appointment as Under Secretary of State. Knopp, who is fifty, was appointed Under Secretary of State to the Ministry of Cultűre, as the Minister’s first deputy, at the beginning of the month, he alsó keeps his piacé in the Party apparátus. Hungárián intellectuals viewed the appointment with dismay because Knopp when he was the deputy leader of the Hungárián Socialist Workers Party’s scientific, education and cultural department organised the suppre- ssion of all Progressive, intellectual ambitions in the last two decades. This in- cluded populist literature, the sociological school of István Kémény, the work of Szelényi, Konrád and others and the philosophical workshop of Lukács’s pupils. In his account of the Bibó memóriái volume, which was written fór the Party Centre bút which was leaked, he proposed the use of Machiavellian political manipulation to divide in- dependent writers and thinkers. A new declaration of protest against Knopp’s appointment has now been made by Károly Alexa literary histórián, Páter Balassa aesthetician, Gábor Czakó writer and Ferenc Kulin publicist, it was signed by more than one hundred people in the last few days. The declaration calling fór the withdrawal of the appointment said that "the new leadership has made an unprincipled and irresponsible bargain with the leaders res- ponsible fór the failure of cultural policy" and that "this step which we at first thought was rash now seems deliberate, its intention is to preserve the injurious cultural policy of old". The declaration says that Knopp "continuously and deliberately made work difficult fór the cultural alliances, he impeded the processes of reform in higher education institutes, he manipulated and incited the traditionally divisive contradictions in Hungárián intellectual life; the populist and urban contradictions, nationality tensions and the occasional conflicts between Party and non-Party members who participate in cultural life. Instead of genuine debate and dialogue he pressed fór administrative or even police methods to deal with dissidents, punishing them fór their very existence." The govemment, finishes the declaration, "could prove the bravery of its reforms if it reviewed and modified its own mistaken decisions and took consensus as its basic principle when choosing officials. Our declaration pressing fór the withdrawal of Knopp’s appointment wishes to participate in this process." í I Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in detail as long as the source is acknowledged.
