Itt-Ott, 1997 (30. évfolyam, 1/128-2/129. szám)

1997 / 1. (128.) szám

Summary of ITT-OTT #128:

„Versszőttes” [vers=poem, szőttes=homespun] provides a warp and woof of Hungarian verse, all dealing with the poet’s task, as an introduction to this issue.

In “In Memóriám” we say farewell to three great American Hungarians who left us since we last went to press: Lajos Szathmáry, or Chef Louis, as he was known to millions, who was among the first readers and supporters of ITT-OTT; to Gábor Bodnár, the head of Hungarian scouting; and Ferenc Kóréh, a commentator for Radio Free Europe who also had his own program in the New York area.

“A Magyar Baráti Közösség huszonöt éve” [25 years of MBK] is the summary of our president, László Bőjtös, of the development and activity of our organization during the last 25 years. In our quiet way we have made a difference in building a better tomorrow for and through Hungarians. In difficult times, we hosted nearly 200 people from all over the Carpathian Basin, authors, artists, scholars and politicians; we learned from them, and they from us. Bőjtös also looks ahead at the future of MBK, with some concern, but with basic optimism.

Judit Gellérd — physician, violinist, scholar and Unitarian minister, and above all a great Transylvanian — conducted a service at our 1996 convention. Her sermon, “Zarándoklás Tibetbe” [Pilgrimage to Tibet] tells of her feelings of kinship with the Tibetan refugees who have been driven from their homeland, and who still maintain a sstrong faith in their future, in spite of their homeland having been reduced to a Chinese province. Dr. Gellérd draws parallels with Transylvania, and keeping the faith there. She is one of the pillars of the Partner Church Council, through which American Unitarian- Universalist congregations “adopt” churches in Transylvania and provide them with material and spiritual support. (MBK has recently joined the PCC.) The sermon is followed by a Hungarian translation of the talk about Martin Luther, delivered by Judit’s husband, Prof. George Williams, on the occasion of his receiving an honorary doctorate from the Protestant Theological school in Kolozsvár.

In “Önismeret, öntudat és a második nemzedék a nyugati szétszórtságban” [Self-knowledge, consciousness, and the second generation in the Western diaspora] Erika Bokor, a member of our Council and a psychologist, examines the pluses and possible minuses for families of maintaining a Hungarian ethnic identity in an American environment. Her plea for a closer, more open relationship among MBK members and a broad discussion of thisd topic is very apropos. This was a talk delivered at the MBK convention.

Another talk given at the same place and time was that of Tibor Zalán, “Lehet-e megtartó erő az irodalom az ezredfordulón?” [Can literature be a preserving force at the turn of the century?], rendered here in print. His answer: 1) it can; 2) it cannot; 3) can’t tell. Zalán attempts to show, in a summary that is sure to ruffle a lot of feathers, that Hungarian literature was never really a “preserving force” anyway, and concludes

that the task of literature is to be literature: something that now, perhaps, can finally be achieved, since the political task borne by Hungarian writers in recent decades has now become the proper task of others — of Hungarian politicians. Zalán’s text is followed by two modern, non-political poems by Zoltán Szügyi and Ferenc Mózsi, the MBK’s uncrowned poéta laureatus.

The Várdys’ “Észrevételek a hazai és a nyugati magyarság viszonyának alakulására a rendszerváltást követő években” [Reflections upon the development of the relationship between Hungarians in Hungary and in the West in the years following the change of the political system] has a very baroque title, but that is so it can be found easily in a number of ways by those who happen to look for it. Steven Béla Várdy delivered a somewhat shorter version of this study at Lake Hope; because of its length, we have had to split it in two, and will publish its second half in ITT-OTT #129. Várdy’s contention is that post-communist Hungary is not what Hungarians in the West expected, and that the treatment of Hungarian from the West by present-day Hungary is also not what had been expected. This piece, too, will be controversial, in accordance with the authors’ stated intention.

“Végre egy kis friss hazai levegő” [At last a bit of fresh air from Hungary] is an ebulliently bullish view of the Hungarian economy by MBK’s very own optimist, Péter Kraft, the President of American Express Hungary Kft. in Budapest. Péter went to where he is now from Argentina via Harvard and Lake Hope.

Another Latin-American Hungarian is Gábor Dömötör, a prominent member of the Magyar community of Sao Paulo, Brazil. His “Márciusi gondolatok” [Thoughts about March] were addressed to the celebrants of March 15 this year, is a positive, optimistic view of our present and future condition, but calls for an ethical renewal. He also calls upon Hungarians in the West to give aid generously to those in need in the Hungary and its neighboring countries.

In the mail column we hear from readers in Szeged, Columbus, Hong Kong, and Pécs. Tibor Lukács, a participant, sets some facts straight regarding the Revolution of 1956, whose chronology appeared in our last issue.

An announcement of the results of the December election and a list of the current officers follows.

Finally, Éva Gabriella Varga, an exchange student at Portland State from József Attila University in Szeged, reviews a book sure to be of some interest to American Hungarians: Túl a Kecegdrddn, edited by Miklós Kontra, based upon the research of Endre Vázsonyi and Linda Dégh about the pidgin of American Hungarians in the Calumet River area, south of Chicago, a few decades ago.

The issue ends with a review/ad for Stephen Sisa’s The Spirit of Hungary, now in its third edition. This book, the only one of its kind, has become kind of a standard piece on the shelves of Hungarian America. The new edition represents and update and expansion.

— LJE