Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1984 (12. évfolyam, 39-42. szám)

1984 / 39-40. szám

BOOKS (Continued)

The 1968 federalization . . . was the culmination of a more recent evolution, but it was also the fruit of a longer historical development. For over a century the Slovaks had the opportunity to consider what were their various options.” This collection of twenty essays addresses this question. In an opening essay Charles Murin presents Kirschbaum’s biography. This is followed by nine chronological chapters written by as many contributors. Part I covers the years of 1948 to 1918 extensively discussing Magyar-Slovak and Czech- Slovak relationships, the Detvan student organizaion, and Milan Hodza’s role. Part II encompasses the years 1918- 1939, Slovakia through the files of the German foreign office, augmented by twenty hithero unpublished German documents (68 pages in German without translation), and a paper on the role of the Slovak People’s Party. Part III gives a text of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic (1939) and discusses the political program of Jozef Tiso, as well as the foreign policy of the republic. Part IV focuses on 1945-1948, the revolt of 1944 and on Slovak-Czech relations after World War II. The volume includes a select bibliography of Kirschbaum’s work.

The editor is assoc, prof, of political science at York University, Glendon Coll., Toronto.

MÓcsy, István I. THE EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR I; THE UPROOTED: HUNGARIAN REFUGEES AND THEIR IMPACT ON HUNGARY’S DOMESTIC POLITICS, 1918-1921.

Brooklyn College Studies on Society in Change, No. 31, distributed by Columbia University Press, 562 West 113 Street, New York, NY 10025, 1983. xiii + 254 pages, maps, name index. $25.00. (East European Monographs No. 147; War and Society in East Central Europe, Vol. 12.)

This volume is part of a series which when completed will present a comprehensive survey of various aspects of war and social change in east Central Europe. The study before us had three stated objectives: define refugee in the contemporary social context; analyze the psychological and political radicalization of these refugees; and examine the process and cost of assimilation. The author describes the political constellation in which the refugees had to survive, and says that refugees, especially those from Transylvania, played a prominent role in most every counterrevolutionary group during 1919-1920. With the victory of the right the refugees became a major political factor in Hungary’s political and social life. Assimilation of the estimated 400,000 refugees proved very costly. Composed mainly of middle and upper class people who left behind most all of their earthly belongings exerted stress on the economy of a severely truncated country with all the problems of a lost war. Chapters deal with each of the following topics: military occupation of Hungary; education; land reform; radicalization of refugees, revolution/counterrevolution; assimilation; the role of Horthy. A list of Hungarian mass organizations, a gazetteer of geographical communities, and biographies of outstanding individuals at the time, conclude the volume.

The author teaches history at the U. of Santa Clara.

Ortutay, Gyula ed. CONGRESSUS QUARTUS INTERNATIONAL^ FENNO-UGRISTARUM, Budapestini habitus 9 - 15, September 1975. Pars V. Acta Sectionis Archaeologiae, Históriáé, [physical] Anthropologiae. Edited by Antal Bartha and János Gulya. Budapest: Akadémiai kiadd, 1983. 219 pages, diagrams, maps. $14.00 paper.

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The fifth and last volume of the congressional proceedings presents papers related to the role of historical research in the field of Finno-Ugristic studies. Of the 45 papers, only two are in English, 9 in German, 1 in French, and the remainder in Russian. One of the English papers is an essay by Antal Bartha on the Place and rote of history in Finno-Ugrian studies. The other is Imre Boba’s Constantine Porphyrogenitus on the evolvement of the Tourkoi Federation. Forreports on earlier volumes, see HSN nos. 27, 31, and 33.

Rózsa, Miklós, DOUBLE LIFE: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MIKLÓS ROZSA. Foreword by Antal Dorati. Hippocrene Books, 171 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016,1983. 224 pages, appendices, illus. $22.50 cloth.

The author recalls his careers as film scorer and classic composer. According to the Publishers Weekly, it “proves to be one of the most urbane, literate Hollywood memoirs in memory.” Born in Budapest in 1907, Rozsa left Hungary in 1931, not to return for some 43 years. He studied in Germany, France, and England. While in London he met the film making Korda brothers, who took him to Hollywood in 1940 and launched him as a film composer. Before leaving London he composed a ballet (Hungária) and music for The Thief of Bagdad. In Hollywood he achieved world fame, received three Oscars and wrote scores for such films as Quo Vadis, Lust for Life, Madame Bovary. His music, at times, was heavily influenced by simple melodies he heard palóc peasants singing in his home village of Nagylócz. He has known the contemporary elite of his profession and many important persons beyond. His autobiography is a convincing testimony to the healthy adjustment of Hungarian immigrants in the U.S., especially of those who were fortunate enough to continue their work in their chosen profession and in a tolerant cosmopolitan atmosphere.

The author lives in Hollywood.

Vargyas, Lajos. HUNGARIAN BALLADS AND THE EUROPEAN BALLAD TRADITION. 2 Vols. Budapest: Akadémiai kiadó, 1983. 1263 pages (Vol. 1: 304, Vol. 2. 960), musical notes, map, list of works used. $89.00 cloth. Trans, from Hungarian by Imre Gombos. A magyar népballada és Európa. Budapest: Zeneműkiadó, 1976.

This monumental opus is divided into two volumes. The first discusses the field of European balladry and documents the fact that Hungarians had become acquainted with the ballad genre from Walloon and Northern French sources in an area where the ballad form of expression has originated in the 13th or 14th centuries. Analayzed are methodologies in ballad research, history of research, organization, references to French settlers in medieval Hungary, impact of Danish ballads, tune and dance, and the ballad and contemporary man. Vol. 2. comprises comparative historical essays on 134 Hungarian ballads and ballad - like old songs heavily assisted by musical notations.

Of all folk literature the ballad meets the tastes of the modern reader most. The ballad deals with psychological problems which are not altogether unknown to the modern reader, while love and family action had been quite different from what they are today. When looking at characteristics of ballads which are strange to contemporary people the question emerges: What makes ballads attractive? The author says that “It is not the action or the framework which is important, but the emotion and sentiment” of the actors. “It is not the dragging of the heroine tied to the tail of a horse, notthe burning alive, execution by the hangman, ordancing

NO. 39-40. SPRING-SUMMER 1984 HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER