A kultúra politikává válása. A tiszaföldvári Hajnóczy József Gimnázium irodalmi színpadának története (1965–1967)
The Politicization of Culture: The History of the József Hajnóczy Literary Ensemble in Tiszaföldvár (1965–1967)

Summary/Abstract: This study explores the history of the József Hajnóczy Secondary School’s literary group in Tiszaföldvár between 1965 and 1967. It investigates how a seemingly harmless extracurricular literary initiative evolved into a phenomenon that drew the attention of the highest levels of cultural policymaking and was eventually banned. The research is based primarily on contemporary state security surveillance documents and oral history interviews conducted in 2024. Óriástök (Giant Pumpkin) and especially Görgős eke (Roller Plough) were performances loaded with thinly veiled political commentary, which became increasingly difficult to ignore and elicited overly direct responses. The group was not prohibited through open repression but rather through a gradual process of administrative obstruction characteristic of the Kádár era. The story of the Tiszaföldvár ensemble transcends the local level: it serves as an example of cultural practices under the Kádár regime that created spaces conducive both to the accumulation of cultural capital and to the articulation of social and political concerns – at least so long as these activities did not become too conspicuous for the authorities to tolerate.

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