Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1977 (5. évfolyam, 13-15. szám)
1977 / 15. szám
ARTICLES and PAPERS Degh, Linda, “Symbiosis of Joke and Legend: A Case of Conversational Folklore,” Folklore Today, 1976, 101-122. The Boda family became the center of De'gh’s investigation in the Hungarian community of the Calumet Region (NW Indiana and SW Illinois). The symbols of ethnic solidarity are apparent in homes, and gathering places of Hungarians and Székelys. The kitchen is the focal point, but the pantry, stocked with homemade foods is also an important source of information. Steve Boda is a story-teller who could never resist telling jokes. Many of his anecdotes are told here as are the stories of his wife, Aunt Ida. The two compliment each other but also provide a running debate between “a rationalistic joke teller” and a “mystic-transcendentalist legend teller.” While both drew on a wide range of sources, “both acquired their materials in the specific way jokes and legends are learned in their cultural setting. The Bodas, BOOKS (Continued) English words that entered the Hungarian language between 1612 and 1975. They are arranged in conceptual categories and treated against the social setting of their appearance. A chapter deals with the processes of assimilation of English words into Hungarian. The term “English words” is given a broad definition including words born on British and American soil, plus French and Latin loan words which acquired new meanings in English, pseudo-Latin and psuedo-Greek words if coined by British and American persons and a few exotic Asian, African, and Amerindian words that were given European currency as British imports. Excluded are English localisms and highly sophisticated technical terms unknown to the average Hungarian newspaper reader. Dr. Országh is a senior member of the Hungarian linguistic community, author of numerous books, dictionaries and an article relevant to this book: “The Life and Death of English Words in the Hungarian Language,” The New Hungarian Quarterly, 31 (1968): 180-188. Bodolai, Zoltán. THE TIMELESS NATION; The History, Literature, Music, Art and Folklore of the Hungarian Nation. Hungarian Publishing Co., Sydney, 1977. 336 pages, maps, illustr., biblio. Australian $9.50 paper. This is a popular history book something at the order of a mini Information Hungary written with patriotic passion but serious efforts to remain objective. Each phase of history up to 1945 is treated in a chapter. Other chapters address special events or regions, and such topics as the Hungarian character, roots of folk poetry, literature, Hungarians in the world. The appendix holds English translationsof Hungarian poetry and documents. Reference to the 50,000 first generation Hungarian-Australians is an unusual bonus. The language of the book is the best we have seen among English publications on Hungary. Musing about the survival of the Hungarians during the millenia in spite of overwhelming adverse forces he says “Born at the misty dawn of antiquity, having outlived the lifespan of countless empires, this nation hopes to survive till the end of Time. They are truly timeless.” The author isTutorof Hungarian History and Cultureatthe U. of Sydney. born and raised in Udvarhely County (Transylvania) settled in the Calumet Region in 1924, where there already was a Székely colony. Their audience is composed of neighbors, relatives, friends within the local ethnic community, and old friends outside the local community. Uncle Steve’s repertoir of 180 stories falls into three main areas: anecdotes localized in the region; traditional anecdotes, mostly imported from Transylvania, and comprising numbskull or trickster stories; and short punchline jokes. The language of the stories is varied: even to a Hungarian audience, the English speaking actors are cited in English and then repeated in Hungarian translation. Mrs. Boda’s stories of the supernatural, usually recounted to and with other believers, illustrates the merger of Old World tradition with modern American supernaturalism. Dr. De'gh is Prof, of Folklore at the U. of Indiana. Komlos, John, “Louis Kossuth’s Activities During the Second War of Italian Independence,” East European Quarterly (Spring 1977) 43-63. Kossuth, who dedicated his years in exile to the restitution of an independent Hungary, kept in touch with both the Hungarian emigres and the European powers which were interested in the diminishing of the Austrian power. In 1859 he was able to secure some promises from Napoleon III and offered his support to the Italian war. However, an effective Hungarian army could not be formed. A few deserters or escaped prisoners from the Austrian army joined the Hungarian legion. When Cavour negotiated a peace, the cause was obviously lost. Komlos doubts that the threat of a Hungarian uprising had much to do with Franz Joseph's accepting of the peace terms: the undertaking was not viable because domestic Hungarian support was lacking, and Kossuth made it clear that he would not plunge into war without the active support of a great power. One concession he gained was that soldiers of the legion were permitted to return home without retribution. Though Kossuth, unable to learn from events or abandon his optimism, continued to hope and plan for a revolution, it was the Compromise of 1867 that was accepted in the end. Dr. Komlos is Assist. Prof, of History at the U. of Chicago. Komlos, John, “The Efficiency of Serf Labor: The Case of Austria-Hungary,” Paper presented at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, October 1977. The paper explores the relationship between the efficiency of peasant labor and the constraints of the legal system in 19th century Austria-Hungary. It has been alleged by historians that under the feudal system the economy had been close to stagnation, while in the beginning of the capitalistic stage of production agricultural growth commenced. Komlos argues that after the emancipation of the peasantry in 1848, no acceleration of growth in production can be observed. In spite of the fact that scholars have often referred to the 1850s as a decade of “grain boom” in Hungary, such acceleration cannot be detected. Lotze, Dieter P., “The ‘Poemes d'Humanite’ of Guernsey and Alsd-Sztregova: Victor Hugo’s La Legende des Siecles and Imre Madach’s The Tragedy of Man. ’’Apaper delivered atthe Symposium on Hugo’s Rayonmentinthe World. Wright State U., April 1977. 4 NO. 15, 1977-78, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER
