Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1981 (9. évfolyam, 27-30. szám)

1981 / 27-28. szám

possible of the pre-1918 frontiers, and preserve the social status quo. Hungary tried to neutralize German pressure for close collaboration by providing limited economic and military assistance, which, however, did not satisfy Germany’s demand. Nazi Germany also expected ideological cooperation especially in such areas as in the “final solution” of the Jewish question. Hungary’s leadership successfully resisted such pressures on the diplomatic level until March 1944 when the appearance of German troops forced each individual to become either a true collaborationist or a true resister. The author describes the policies of Horthy vis-a-vis the Germans as exemplary for other members of the power elite. “With the failure of the October 15,1944 armistice attempt, the element of choice disappeared as far as the government and the army command were concerned. Collaboration became institutionalized while resistance became an act of heroism by individuals outside the seats of power.” □

Degh, Linda. “Grape-Harvest Festival of Strawberry Farmers: Folklore or Fake?" Ethnologia Europea 10:2(1977/78) 114-131.

Arpadhon, as a unique rural settlement of Hungarian immigrants, is being investigated by physical anthropologist Kortvelyessy (see next issue of HSN) and by folklorist Degh. They want to know if the century-long quasy-isolation has produced biological and cultural characteristics different from those of the mainstream American immigrant. Degh gives a fairly detailed ethnographic description of the people, their customs, and the central piece of cohesion: the annual Harvest Dance Festival. This event, held usually at the end of September or early October, symbolizes Hungarianness to the group. It has preserved a blend of costumes, music, and dance originating in the Hungarian peasant subculture, in urban imitations of peasant customes, and in borrowed elements from New World neighbors. Though all this has been preserved with remarkable consistency, there occurred changes “in musical instruments, the choice and sequence of the pieces of music, their style and rhythm, as well as the ethnic composition of band membership.” Thus, these “descendants of peasants of mixed ancestry from historic Hungary, acknowledge the harvest Dance Festival as their own folklore, their own tradition, their own art”, challenging the criteria of genuineness in folklore.

The author is prof, of folklore at Indiana U. □

Fenyő, Mario. ‘‘Hungary to the Hungarians!” Paper, presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Hungarian History at Philadelphia, November 1980.

Hungarian resistance during World War II has not been discussed in a wholistic perspective, taking sentiments of the people at large, policies of the government, and the changing international setting into consideration. This, paper adds some new evidence to the topic. The explicit objective of the period was to survive on the side of victor, having preserved as strong an economic and military base as possible. Neutrality seemed to the proper posture, unattainable because of historic commitments to Germany. Thus, a policy of compromise characterized the period during which Hungary bought limited freedom for restrained economic and military assistance until 1944. Losses of territories after World War I, and partial recovery with the assistance of Nazi Germany made deep impressions on the Hungarian public. According to the author, the “public was wounded in its nationalist sentiment by the punitive peace treaty of Trianon.” People who “fell for Hitler” were those who believed in German victory; those

NO. 27-28, SPRING, 1981 HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

who felt threatened in their livelihood by a sizeable Jewish intellectual minority; and those who felt grateful for recovering some lost territory and hoped for a complete peaceful revision of the Paris peace treaties. “The Hungarian patriot thus became the victim of objectivized cultural and social factors. □

Gluck, Mary. “Politics versus Culture: Radicalism and the Lukacs Circle in Turn of the Century Hungary,” East European Quarterly 14(Summer 1980) 129-154.

The young radical generation of Hungary, who were greatly influenced by the positivist legal scholar Gyula Pikier, defined its task primarily in terms of achieving political democracy, economic modernization, and cultural advancement. In advocating a return to the ideals and values of liberalism, they turned to socialism though by this they did not necessarily mean the doctrine of Marx and Engels; generally, the term was used to refer to a concern with social problems. However, as these thinkers became more involved in politics, they became identified as radicals and accused of being traitors to the national cause. They themselves considered their goals as patriotic, and of their most crucial task became the reconciliation of the conflict between progress and nationalism. The lasting achievement of the movement proved to be in the cultural and intellectual rather than in the political realm. The latter was accomplished primarily by the “younger generation” such as György Lukács, Bela Balázs, Lajos Fülep, Karl Mannheim, and Anna Lesznai. While a flexible group, they did subscribe to a “new idealism” that rejected the “other worldliness of traditional religions” and saw art and ethics “as the avenues for the manifestation of the spirit.” The Vasárnapi kör, an informal discussion group and the Szellemi Tudományok Szabad Iskolája were their chief forums. They advocated a new attitude toward the solution of modern problems through new forms of artistic expression. The author is assist, prof, of history at Brown U. (EMB) □

Hofer, Tamás. “Changes in the Style of Folk Art and Various Branches of Folklore in Hungary during the 19th Century-An Interpretation.” Acta Ethnographica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 29:1-2(1980)149-165.

Art originating in urbanized upper-class culture is usually broken down into specific, frequently independent branches, such as literature, music, painting, sculpture, dance. Changes in the style of one genre may not necessarily bring about changes of similar nature in another. Thus, the impact of these arts on the individual is selective, not all encompassing, unlike the arts of the village, such as songs, dances, folklore, decorative objects and alike, which are highly integrated into a system of customs, rites, beliefs embracing all members of the society, providing them with a sense of cohesiveness, security, and good quality of life. In fact, their entire life is intertwined with aesthetically valued objects and gestures. The 19th century brought dramatic political, economic and social changes to Hungary, and the question raised by the author is how have these changes affected village arts. He says that novel art styles which appeared testify to a positive reaction by the peasantry and to an awareness that costumes and decorative objects are what they meant to be: “a communicative code expressing inwardly and outwardly the awareness of being a peasant, a feeling of identity.” He also suggests that experiments with the “quality of life” model now popular with sociologists and anthropologists, will show the peasant to emerge as a human being rather than an actor in history. The author is a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Ethnography, HAS. □

9