Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1978 (6. évfolyam, 16-18. szám)
1978 / 18. szám
with the conquering Hungarians.” It is therefore probable that the Bijelobrdo Culture which appeared after 900 in the upper Tisza Valley, in parts of Slovakia, and in Western Hungary, included Hungarian components, and was a “symbiosis of a Moravian and Hungarian material cutlure reflecting an initial political cooperation that resulted in an ethnic and cultural amalgamation.” The other paper of Boba concerns itself with population transfers in the Carpathian Basin (The ‘Bijelbrdo Culture’ and Ethnic Changes in the Danubian Basin in the Ninth Century). It was delivered at the Third Int. Congress of Slavic Archaeology in Bratislava, 1975. Here he argues that “present-day Slovakia was occupied after the fall of the Avar rule by a Slovene population from the south, most probably from the realm known later as Slavonia, which included Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Pannónia Secunda. The Slovene population brought with them a culture which was distinct from the local “Slavic and Avar cultures.” “Until recently, the population of present-day Slovakia was known to the Hungarians as Tot, but there is no equivalent expression: Totorszag. On the other hand, the territories south of the Drava were known throughout the Middle Ages as To'torszaV “Hungarian dictionaries written before 1800 offer the following equivalents for To't: Sclavonicus, Dalmaticus, and Illyricus.” Boba is Prof, of History at the U. of Washington. Kenez, Ferenc, “Thoughts on the Book of Church Order of the PCUS and a Short Outline of the Book of Laws of the Reformed Church in Hungary,” Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond, VA, 1977. 26 pages, n.p. Mimeo. Kenez presents a comparison of the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the Lawbook of the Reformed Church in Hungary. He finds the Book of Church Order deficient in legal exactness resulting not only in vagueness and ambiguity, but also in contradictions. In contrast, he finds that the Lawbook of the Reformed Church, gives proper guidance to both laity and clergy. In comparing the governing documents of the two Reformed Churches, he stresses the headship of Jesus Christ and the allegiance owed by church members to the national state in each instance. In Hungary, the boundary of the congregation generally corresponds to that of the community as defined by the State. The individual is a member of a church in whose territory he lives. Congregations have both an electoral and a communion roll. Voting eligibility and procedures, the duties of the various officers (elected) and employees (hired) are set forth in detail. The roles of the legal counsellors, bishops, curators, and that of the Synod are carefully defined. These groups, which are responsible for the legislative and executive functions of the church, are about equally divided in representation between the clergy and the laity. The author is the minister of the Reformed Church in Budapest at Kálvin te'r. Lengyel, Alfonz, “The Library of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary,” Fifteenth Century Studies, I (1978) 141-147. The interest of Matthias, King of Hungary, in humanistic studies drew him to establish close ties with the Italians. As part of his cultural program, he built the Bibliotheca Corviniana, a library, copying and research center that soon gained international recognition. Matthias employed many Italian artists in the Corviniana as illuminators; contemporary historians and scholars-in-residence at his court provide us with some documentation of the activity. However, many questions remain unanswered. The identity of some of the illuminators can not always be established conclusively, though men as prominent as Bartholomaeus Fontinus and Attavante were definitely associated with the library. The number of codices in the collection remains a subject of controversy. (The successors of Matthias sold some while the rest were dispersed or destroyed during the Turkish wars.) In 1686 Pflugh, the first historiographer of the library, suggested 50,000 volumes; while the 19th century historians generally placed the number at 1,000 to 3,500. No closer determination of the number has been made in recent years. The author is affiliated with the Institute for Mediterranean Art and Archaeology in Cincinnati, Ohio. Maxim, Tabory (Kinston, N.C.) presented a paper on Hungarian ethnic literature at the Popular Culture Association’s 1978 Southern Convention at Nashville, Tennessee. The paper, Torch bearers of an ethnic culture: Contemporary Hungarian poets of the United States and Canada, is based on a questionnaire, correspondence with poets, and on their published and unpublished works. It is concerned with poets as individuals and as members of a group, and stresses their relationship to their adopted country. Kerek, Andrew, “English Loanwords in Hungarian," English Round the World 18 (May 1978) 6. English loan words have shaped the Hungarian language substantially in the past 150 years. In his brief essay, Kerek suggests in a lighthearted way through carefully selected examples the breath and depth of this influence. In the realm of sports the indebtedness is especially heavy: while sport is easily recognizable, gol (goal), meccs (match) or suttol (shoot) may give English-speakers a pause. Dances and entertainment terms also abound dszesz (jazz), but beat and popszong. Many technical terms have also been borrowed: diktafon, ofzet; and so have social terms: bar, party, kokte'l. Even some food names have been adopted: hamendeksz (ham-and-eggs) löncshús (luncheon-meat); in the latter the meal designation is kept because it reflects an adoptation of the light noon-day meal itself. The author cites an article by László' Országh, “The Life and Death of English Loan Words in the Hungarian Language.” New Hungarian Quarterly IX (Fall 1969); a better source of these words is Angol Eredetű Elemek a Magyar Szókészletben. Nyelvtudományi Értekezések 93. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó', 1977, 175 pages, by the same author. Kerek is Assoc. Prof, of English, at Miami U., Oxford, Ohio. Chaszar, Edward. “The Ethnic Principle and National Boundaries: a Case Sudy of the Czechoslovak-Hungarian Border Dispute of 1938," Documentation sur L'Europe Centrale XV (1977) 267-277. In 1938 Hungary sought the attainment of a favorable settlement of the minorities question with Czechoslovakia. The Munich Agreement called for a settlement through negotiation, but this attempt failed and the matter was referred to Italo-German arbitration. “The arbital award was based almost exclusively on ethnographic factors, and restored to Hungary 12,103 sq. km. of territory with slightly over one million population, 80% of them Magyars.” In the negotiations, the Slovak delegation, representing an autonomous Slovakia and the Ruthenian delegation, met with the Hungarians. The latter requested ethnic frontiers (Continued on page 6) NO. 18,1979, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER 5
