Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1982 (10. évfolyam, 31-34. szám)

1982 / 33. szám

BOOKS (Continued)

papers, four are in English. Of particular interest may be that of Lóránt G. Czigány on Some Aspects of the Interrelation between the Shamanistic Tradition and the use of Hallucinogens among the Finno-Ugric people. The essay of Mihály Hoppál on the Belief-System, Worldview, and Mythology, has no immediate Hungarian relevance, but shows the extent of progress Hungarian ethnographers have made in the study of social dynamics in recent years. (3) No English papers are included among the 15 essays in the third section: Differentiation and Integration in the Civilization of the Finno-Ugric Peoples. For a report on Part 2 of the proceedings see HSN no. 27/28, p. 6, and on Part 3 see HSN no. 31/32, p. 4.)

Papp, Susan M. HUNGARIAN AMERICANS AND THEIR COMMUNITIES OF CLEVELAND. Cleveland Ethnic Heritage Studies, Cleveland St.U., 1860 East 22nd Street, Cleveland, OH 44115,1981.324 pages, maps, tables, illus. $10.00 paper. Part of the Cleveland Ethnic Heritage Studies series; general editor is Karl Bonutti.

The study is that of a historian applying conventional methods of library research and some empirical inquiry into the evolution of the Hungarian communities of Cleveland. It offers more than its title suggests. A preface by the general editor, and an introduction by Joe Eszterhas is followed by a 52-page highly condensed history of Hungary; by a 90-page history of Hungarian immigrants in the U.S. at large; by three supplementary articles on ethnic politics, on Hungarian intellectual achievements, and on the building of St. Elizabeth Church in Cleveland. It concludes with 12 pages of demographic data. The centerpiece of the study focuses on the some 113,000-strong Hungarian community of greater Cleveland. This part covers some 100 pages and 37 photos, and describes the subject with laudable detachment. Most similar works of the past were characterized by ethnocentric bias, or as S.B. Ilardy says in his review of the study (see: Hungarian Studies Review, (forthcoming) they were “generally too fragmented, too short, too naive, or all of these combined; while others dealt only with certain limited aspects of Hungarian-American life in and around Cleveland. Moreover, a number of them lacked the degree of professional preparation and scholarly detachment displayed by Ms. Papp in her work.” The author discusses the various waves of immigrants, the evolution of Hungarian religious and neighborhood communities, their educational and welfare institutions, papers, literature, ethnic politics and social dynamics.

The author is a graduate of Cleveland St.U.

Rothenburg, Gunther E., Bela K. Király, and Peter Sugar, eds. EAST CENTRAL EUROPEAN SOCIETY AND WAR IN THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

Social Science Monographs (East European Monographs no. 122) distributed by Columbia U. Press, 562 West 113th Street, New York, NY 10025. 1982, 566 pages, map, tables, toponymic index. $35.00 cloth. No. 11 in Brooklyn College Studies on Society in East Central Europe.

This is a substantial multidisciplinary volume rendering a comparative survey of military behavior and organization in various nations and nationality groups which constituted the societies of East Central Europe in the 18th century. The purpose was to see what is peculiar, i.e., what has been culturally determined and what in their conduct was due to circumstances. The modern study of defense systems concerns itself with the evolution of the entire society since military institutions, as a rule, reflect the value system of the society of which they are part. The 32 essays by as many authors are divided into 7 chapters and an appendix of the following topics: War and Society in Western and East Central Europe in the Pre-Revolutionary 18th Century; Reflections on the Causes of Eighteenth Century Welfare in Europe; Habsburg Society and War; Polish Society and War; Balkan Society and War; The Cossacks and Warfare; Military Emigration from Central and Eastern Europe to France in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Hungarian references are numerous throughout the volume. Of special interest to Hungarianists and those concerned with social dynamcis are the references to the multinational character of the Habsburg Monarchy. Lt. Gen. Baron Mack recommended in 1804 that language and cultural differences within the Monarchy should be given more attention. A junior officer asked in 1792 whether an army of “Hungarians, Croats, Transylvanians, Italians, Bohemians, Moravians, Poles, Vlachs, Slavonians, Austrians, Styrians, Tyroleans, Carniolans, and Gypsies could march under one flag and fight for a cause it knows nothing about.”

Rothenberg is prof, of history at Purdue U., Király is prof, emeritus at Brooklyn Coll., CUNY; and Sugar is prof, of history at the U. of Washington.

Vajda, Albert. REMADE IN ENGLAND; from Her Majesty’s Alien to Her Majesty’s British Subject. Polygon Books, 1 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, Great Britain EH8 9LW, 1981. 149 pages, illus. £ 4.95 cloth.

This is a droll autobiography of a Hungarian writer and humorist, who fled his country of birth in 1956 and was warmly received in his country of choice. It is an entertaining book not intended to be a scholarly treatise. Nevertheless, since its theme centers on the socialization process of two Hungarian intellectuals in England, with keen observations on the differences in the two cultures, it maybe of interest to social scientists concerned with adaptation. When the author and his wife became citizens, five years after their arrival in England, he took stock of his feelings and loyalties. “I looked for changes in myself — and was puzzled when I did not find them. The explanation is simple; a grown man does not become someone else just because of new citizenship papers.. .I learned how to keep a poker face, a polite smile, how to talk without saying anything. In company and in business meetings, I used the English understatement, even though this did not always suit my Hungarian temperament. It etched the following advice of an astute man deep into my memory: ‘In England it is bad manners to be clever, to assert something confidently. It may be your opinion that two and two make four, but you must not go around proclaiming it, because others may be of a different opinion.’ ”

The author is an established writer and satirist, member of the British P.E.N. Club and the American Mark Twain

Society.

Wass, Albert (de Czege). DEADLY FOG AT DEADMAN’S LANDING. A novel. Danubian Press, Rt. 1, Box 59, Astor, FL 32002, 1979. 102 pages. $5.00 paper.

The scene of this novel is the United States, more precisely, Lake George, Florida. Its time is now, except for a disgression at about the midpoint of the story, where an old man recalls his younger years he spent in his native Transylvania. He recalls the deeply embedded antagonism between Romanians and Transylvanians, and the inhuman tortures and

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NO. 33, AUTUMN 1982, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER