Sz. Tóth Judit: A megtalált hagyomány. Nemzetiségek Pest megyében a 21. században - A Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, D. sorozat: Múzeumi füzetek - Kiállításvezetők 3. (Szentendre, 2013)
IV. Irodalom
TRADITION REDISCOVERED NATIONALITIES IN PEST COUNTY IN THE 21st CENTURY English Summary The present territory of Pest county (till 1950 it was part of Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun county) is inhabited by different nationalities, Germans, Serbians, Croatians, Slovakians lived here together with Hungarians. At the beginning of the 1900's there was only one Serbian settlement with ethnic Serbians over 80% (Lórév), two Slovakians and fourteen Germans. In other 15 villages the majority of the population was German, in 18 Slovakian. This multinationality was a characteristic feature of the county's ethnicity till the mid 20th century and the culture as well as language of the nationalities was flourishing. The relocation of the majority of the German population had changed this in 1946, then the exchanges of Slovakians and Hungarians in 1946-1948. (Serbians settled back to Yugoslavia after 1920 in a large number.) A result of the traumatic events was that nationalities - mainly Germans - did not take on their identity. It had accelerated the change of language and costumes, traditions were limited to the private sphere. In the sixties-seventies the culture of nationalities meant music, dance and stage folklore. The cult of southern Slav music and dance was created by folklorism. Ethnic-political decisions brought after the change of the regime and the following positive tendencies are reflected in the data of the census. Between 2000 and 2010 the number of those declaring their nationalities has doubled, in the case of Germans even more. Autonomy, local governments, institutions of education and culture, civil organizations helped a lot to preserve and present traditions. The exhibition and the booklet are the results of a decade's research work looking for the answer to the approach of the nationalities in Pest county - Germans, Serbians, Slovakians - to their own traditions and the way how they convey it to others, which elements of their culture play an important role in strengthening their identity, how they re-use the costumes and habits. Costumes are the most characteristic form of showing identity. The first part of the book discusses living, renewed, and stage costumes. These are authentic reconstructions made by and for themselves. Catholic and orthodox religious traditions remained the same, but withdrew to the private sphere. Today they turn to be part of the community's life again. They appear in public spaces. The responsibility of the experts is great. Films, photos show the new content of old traditions as public events. 51
