The Hungarian monument protection from 1957 to 1990 through the lens of its professional journal
The Hungarian monument protection from 1957 to 1990 through the lens of its professional journal

Summary/Abstract: The nationwide monument protection system was (re-)established in Hungary in 1957 and operated uninterruptedly during the previous political system. Even though by now both the profession and its institutional system has been transformed numerous times, the dedicated professional journal, titled “Monument Protection”, has been continuously published since 1957. It was first published by the Union of Hungarian Architects and from 1960 the National Monument Protection Inspectorate (OMF) was the main publisher until the end of the researched period in 1990. It describes and discusses case studies, theoretical investigations and informs colleagues and the interested nationwide audience about the international norms and trends in that field. This contribution looks at the first circa three decades (1957-1990) of this journal as a basis to investigate the profession in Hungary, its operational scope as well as its national and international status. Melinda Harlov-Csortán – The Hungarian monum ent... 59 This investigation contributes not just to exploration of an important historical period through a specialized profession but to understanding of our contemporary built environment and the views and concepts behind them as well. The research process involves analysis of printed materials (such as policies or conference publications) as well as interviews with members of the profession. The current contribution analyzes the first 33 years of the publication by looking at both its content, structure and language. Comparative and discourse analysis were conducted to understand both the given period of the Hungarian profession and the role of the journal in question. The aim of the article is to discuss the self-representation of the Hungarian monument protection profession during the researched period (1957-1990) not just by presenting the history of the field but also by investigating tasks and challenges that Hungarian monument professionals identified themselves. ‟Monument Protection” serves also as a great basis for comparative analysis together with other Hungarian publications or even as a basis of international comparison with alike foreign journals.

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