The Secret Diary and the Frozen Oeuvre of Gyula Ortutay
The Secret Diary and the Frozen Oeuvre of Gyula Ortutay

Summary/Abstract: Gyula Ortutay (1910–1978) was the unquestionable leader of Hungarian folklore studies and ethnography during era of state socialism in Hungary. After the Second World War, he took on a political role as Minister of Religion and Public Education, and the list of his leading positions could fill pages. His undeniable talent, academic positions, engaging social manner, and the political posts he fulfilled in the Socialist state all contributed to an unparalleled concentration of academic power, which promoted the extension of the institutionalization of ethnography and folklore studies, as well as monopolized or marginalized certain research areas and methods within the field. Ortutay has remained an authority in Hungarian folklore studies, but his oeuvre became frozen over the decades, an empty point of reference, as no endeavours have taken place to reread and reinterpret his folkloristic oeuvre. His diary, which he banned from publication for thirty years after his death, was published in 2009–2010 by his son. I present the very intensive and controversial reception of the diary and various interpretations that have accompanied Ortutay’s oeuvre and try to illustrate what sort of ethical problems may arise when the main protagonist of a narrative in disciplinary history is a person of impact, a founding father who took on political roles in autocratic regimes.

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