Szabó Dezső magyarság- és nemzetfogalma a két háború közötti írásainak tükrében
Dezső Szabó’s Interwar Concept of Magyardom and Nation

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the present study is to analyze the concepts of Magyardom and nation developed by Dezső Szabó in the interwar period. The novelty of this study is rooted in its approach, which is radically different from that of all previous writings on the subject. As opposed to the method of the typological approaches that inevitably brought about a certain kind of reductionalism, my technique was to reconstruct the ideas of Dezső Szabó by regarding them as a complex and dynamic system of thoughts. Another distinguishing characteristic is that when analyzing the works of the interwar period, I never indulged in neglecting the impact of Szabó’s previouswritings. Indisputably, one of the benefits of my approach is the discovery that the left-wing radicalism of Szabó’s previous writings did not cease to survive in the interwar period; what is more, it had a far-reaching influence on his definition of “nation”, too. In my study, I reveal that in the 1920’s Dezső Szabó described Magyardom as an ethnical, lingual and historical community, as opposed either to the contemporary race theories or to the concept of “political nation” elaborated by the dualist era. It is important to emphasize that at this time in Szabó’s political vocabulary the concept of “nation” as “political nation” had a negative connotation. In my writing I also show the development as a result of which Szabó’s acceptance of the “political nation” that unites Hungarian and non-Hungarian people changed drastically from the middle of the 1930’s. Finally, Dezső Szabó became one of the exponents of a concept that significantly resembled the dualist concept of “political nation”.

• Details
• Contents