EGY MÁS MELLETT
Next to An(Other)
Essays, Studies
Author(s): Barna Bodó
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Inter-Ethnic Relations, Geopolitics, Politics and Identity
Published by: Scientia Kiadó
Keywords: democracy; Changos; Vlachs; national policy; minorities; regime change; Hungarinan; Jakabffy; Germans in Transylvania; agrarian reform; Tibor Toró;
Series: Sapientia Könyvek
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-606-975-075-9
- Page Count: 254
- Publication Year: 2023
- Language: Hungarian
A DEMOKRÁCIA KAPUJÁBAN
A DEMOKRÁCIA KAPUJÁBAN
(At the gate of democracy)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:15-22
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:democracy; Hungarian communities; ethnospora;
- Summary/Abstract:The text is a revised version of the lecture presented at the conference entitled How local Hungarian communities outside the country's borders experienced the change of regime and how the change of regime in Hungary affected their lives. In such analysis, it must be taken into account the fact the fact the Hungarian minority in Romania has different socio-cultural conditions depending on the demographic weight. In areas where the Hungarians are a local majority, local administrative institutions contribute directly to their cultural life. In places, such as Timișoara, where there is an advanced minority, a so called ethnospora – to use a specific term from Hungarian scholarly literature – democracy brings new challenges, the preservation of Hungarian culture and identity, but also of other ethnic minorities is endangered by the continuous decrease of the local Hungarian/minority population and by the local socio-cultural changes. A conscious activity is needed to build the local Hungarian community, that requires help from both the Hungarian nation and those local communities, where the Hungarians live in majority, in Transylvania.
A ROMÁNSÁG CSÁNGÓI. VLACHOK SZERBIÁBAN
A ROMÁNSÁG CSÁNGÓI. VLACHOK SZERBIÁBAN
(Csangos/ceangăi of Romanians. The Vlachs of Serbia)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:23-38
- No. of Pages:16
- Keywords:Csangos; Vlachs; Serbia; Central and Eastern Europe;
- Summary/Abstract:All the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe have their cross-border communities. The Vlachs constitute a specific ethnic group: they can be considered the most abandoned Romanian community across the country's border, which is in great need of help. In Serbia, where most of them live, during the approximately 200 years of Serbian-Yugoslav-Serbian statehood, they were exposed to a strong policy of assimilation. Their situation did not improve either in the last decade of the 20th century, they have no institutions (school, church). Only 4 of the 23 members of the existing Vlach National Council represent the pro-Romanian option, the rest are pro-Serbian. The Vlachs have had no real representation of their community interests for the last hundred years. There is one party, the Democratic Party of Rumanians in Serbia (in Serbian Vlašca Demokratska Stranka), of which leaders of Vlach NGOs claim does not represent them. Traian Băsescu, the president of Romania, promised during his visit to Timoc Vally, in 2011 that they would financially support the establishment of kindergartens and weekend schools in Romanian. A year passed and they still haven't received any help.
TE MIT VÁLASZTANÁL? AZ ESEMÉNYNAPTÁR MINT KULTURÁLIS ESZKÖZ
TE MIT VÁLASZTANÁL? AZ ESEMÉNYNAPTÁR MINT KULTURÁLIS ESZKÖZ
(What would you choose? Calendar of events as a cultural tool)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:39-58
- No. of Pages:20
- Keywords:calendar; community; NGO; DAHR; ethnospora;
- Summary/Abstract:Calendars of events are extremely useful in the field of tourism; such volumes are published more and more often. Related to them, some questions can be formulated: How important is the calendar for a community? How representative and how comprehensive can they be? Does it contain accurate and up-to-date data? How useful is it? The calendar of Hungarian events in Transylvania is an important publication for many. The analysis shows that DAHR (UDMR) as well as its county, local, women's and youth organizations organize many events. Most, almost two-thirds of the events, are organized by local NGOs. The analysis shows that in communities where the local weight of Hungarians is small, in so-called ethnospora situations, most events are organized by the NGOs. From a territorial point of view, there are significant differences, some counties have many events, others only a few. The approx. 50% of the events are cultural or predominantly cultural. Scientific conferences organized by universities hardly fit into the calendar. Finally, we know the number of events presented by the calendar, this in itself is neither many nor few. The fact is that a lot of organizations do not send their event dates to the call, probably about half of the realistic number of events that are included in the calendar.
KISEBBSÉGI HÍDSZEREP – TÖBBSÉGI NACIONALIZMUS. A MAGYAR NEMZETPOLITIKA BUKTATÓI
KISEBBSÉGI HÍDSZEREP – TÖBBSÉGI NACIONALIZMUS. A MAGYAR NEMZETPOLITIKA BUKTATÓI
(Minorities as a bridge – majority nationalism. The pitfalls of Hungarian national politics)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:61-69
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Kádár era; Hungarians from Romania; communist Hungary; Gyula Illyés;
- Summary/Abstract:What is the role of national minorities in interstate relations? How do different ex-communist countries relate to their ethnicities living outside the country's borders? Questions can be formulated in this context - in the present text we have analyzed the case of the Hungarians, more precisely the Hungarians from Romania. Communist Hungary completely neglected Hungarian communities in Central and Eastern European countries, according to the decision of the Hungarian leader János Kádár. The change in Hungarian politics has a starting point, namely the essay of the famous writer Gyula Illyés, published in the newspaper Magyar Nemzet, in the Christmas and New Year issues of 1977/1978. The essay presented cases of major violations of the rights of Hungarians living in minority in neighboring countries, especially from Romania. The process of reconfiguring the policy aimed at Hungarians beyond the border led to the emergence, in 1987-88, of the first institutions regarding this policy. In comparison, in Bucharest, the first steps regarding Romanians everywhere were taken in 1995, with the establishment of a commission, the government institution being organized in 1998. Even if Hungarian politics has changed radically from the years of the Kádár era, the question remains: how could it give up national interests in favor of a declared, but never-true internationalism?
MAGYAR RENDSZERVÁLTÁS ÉS A HATÁRON TÚLI MAGYARSÁG
MAGYAR RENDSZERVÁLTÁS ÉS A HATÁRON TÚLI MAGYARSÁG
(Hungarian regime changes and Hungarians across the border)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:71-86
- No. of Pages:16
- Keywords:Central and Eastern Europe; Polish diaspora; Hungarian communities beyond the borders;
- Summary/Abstract:In Central and Eastern Europe, state borders do not overlap with the borders between different ethnic communities: significant minority communities live on the territory of other, usually neighboring states. The policies of these states regarding ethnic communities outside the country differ considerably. Even at the conceptual level, a univocal approach was not reached. The Romanian strategy regarding Romanians everywhere identifies the problem but does not reach the formulation of public policies in this regard. The similar German institution is called Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Aussiedlerfragen und nationale Minderheiten, so the repatriation of Germans and the issue of minorities are included in a common framework. In Poland the issue of Poles from neighboring countries does not seem to be an important issue, their policy is about the Polish diaspora. The present study presents the evolution of the Hungarian policy regarding the Hungarian communities beyond the country's borders: the conceptual approach and the institutional framework created in this regard.
SZOMSZÉDSÁGPOLITIKA ÉS/VAGY EMLÉKEZETPOLITIKA
SZOMSZÉDSÁGPOLITIKA ÉS/VAGY EMLÉKEZETPOLITIKA
(Neighborhood policy and/or memory policy)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:87-101
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:neighborhood policy; memory policy; change of regime; nation-state;
- Summary/Abstract:The change of regime and the creation of new neighboring states after 1990 marked the end of a long period. The questions of the (re)definition of "national states" and the problems related to the deep transformations in society came to the fore. Changes are also taking place in neighborhood policy. How is the relationship between Hungary and Romania, and what can the Hungarian community of almost 1.3 million people in Romania/Transylvania expect? How can citizens of Central and Eastern Europe live together in peace at the beginning of the 21st century; What are the chances of establishing normal neighborly relations? Among the many components of these relations, in the present study we deal with only one topic, the politics of memory. We bring arguments regarding our thesis: the last decades have not brought any changes regarding the memory policy in Romania. The so-called common space, the united Europe, exists only on a theoretical level, Romania's memory policy as an EU member state has remained as it was before accession.
JAKABFFY ELEMÉR IDŐSZERŰSÉGE A 21. SZÁZADBAN
JAKABFFY ELEMÉR IDŐSZERŰSÉGE A 21. SZÁZADBAN
(Timeliness of Jakabffy in the 21st century)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:105-112
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:Jakabffy; Hungarian minority politics; Transylvania;
- Summary/Abstract:Elemér Jakabffy was a typical and well-known personality of Hungarianminority politics in Romania/Transylvania between the two world wars. Hemade important contributions both as a politician (as Vice-President of theHungarian National Party) and as a consistent supporter of the fi ght for theprotection of minorities, and, lastly, as the creator of a spiritual workshop on thetheoretical-scientifi c approach to minority problems. Jakabffy is characterizedby an interesting duality. While as a party leader he was not only familiar withbut also a participant in a politics characterized by ups and downs rather thansuccesses, as a researcher and publisher he succeeded in representing a veryparticular viewpoint. His social environment – i.e. the Banat with its multipleethnicities, its potential for modernization and the existing interculturality –and the infl uence of the political school he joined as a follower of István Tiszamade him sensitive and receptive to the ideas of liberalism. He wanted to treatthe minority situation as a legal problem and to fi nd a solution as such, havingno direct partners to join his attempt in Transylvania at that time.
AZ ERDÉLYI NÉMET KÉRDÉS ÉS JAKABFFY
AZ ERDÉLYI NÉMET KÉRDÉS ÉS JAKABFFY
(Jakabffy and the problem of the Germans in Transylvania)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:113-153
- No. of Pages:41
- Keywords:Germans in Transylvania; Jakabffy; Saxons; Swabians;
- Summary/Abstract:Minority politics can be considered a good one if it does not eliminate nationalcommunities but, on the contrary, it gives them a chance to endure. Any policy(national, state) that leads to the elimination of minorities or jeopardizestheir existence is unacceptable and must be rejected. Many questions can beformulated regarding the drastic numerical decrease of Germans in Romaniaand Central and Eastern Europe. Interestingly, the idea that a serious reason forthis phenomenon could be the offi cial minority policy of the states from whichGermanness disappeared or withdrew is not circulated at all. In the present study,we analyse the activity and works of Elemér Jakabffy regarding the Swabians andSaxons in Romania; we are looking for elements and causes evoked and analysedby him that led to the non-existence of real cooperation between TransylvanianHungarians and Germans in the interwar period, in a Romania where both ofthem were minority communities. Are the leaders of the German communityresponsible for the fact that after centuries of presence in Transylvania, theSaxons must be spoken of in the past tense? The current situation has beenreached despite the fact that today the importance of the Saxons. and Swabians’role in the modernization of local society is being recognized more and more.It must be admitted that the political-social elite of the two groups of Germansmade erroneous interpretations and wrong decisions regarding their future; forvarious reasons, they were not able to interpret social processes correctly, andthus this elite is also responsible for and has contributed to the current situation.
JAKABFFY ÉS A KISEBBSÉGI POLITIKA
JAKABFFY ÉS A KISEBBSÉGI POLITIKA
(Jakabffy and minority politics)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:155-184
- No. of Pages:30
- Keywords:Jakabffy; minority politics; Magyar Kisebbség; Hungarian community in Transylvania;
- Summary/Abstract:The question arises: is it necessary to analyse, once more, the personality andwork of Elemér Jakabffy, lawyer, public fi gure, leader of his community, deputy,social scientist, editor and patron of the periodical Magyar Kisebbség, a journalwith versions in Romanian, German, and French, known throughout Europe– does his immense activity, therefore, call for a new analysis? My answer is:yes. This is the case not only because Jakabffy as a public fi gure carried outextremely responsible and extensive activities but also to get a clearer pictureof him, the man. Jakabffy’s political and social role has fascinated me for sometime: I see in him an outsider from within the system, a politician who does notdedicate himself to a party or a movement but who is rather the follower andpromoter of values, (often of public) ideas, duties that he had respected all hislife, never giving them up in any situation. Admirable consistency. Jakabffy’spublic involvement is not that of a politician, as he behaves more like an actorof the associative sphere and dedicates his life and activity to the service of thecommunity. It is an institution embedded in one person. When there were noinstitutions (yet) to deal with the challenges of minority status, he invented andestablished them. Thus, his perception of his role can be interpreted correctlyonly in a broader context, for which a general analysis of the concept of politicsand political activity is necessary, including an analysis of the (political andsocial) elite of the Hungarian community in Transylvania, from the interwarperiod.
ALÁZATTAL ÉS BECSÜLETTEL. VENCZEL JÓZSEF AZ 1921-ES ERDÉLYI ROMÁN FÖLDREFORMRÓL
ALÁZATTAL ÉS BECSÜLETTEL. VENCZEL JÓZSEF AZ 1921-ES ERDÉLYI ROMÁN FÖLDREFORMRÓL
(With humility and honour. József Venczel on the 1921 Romanian agrarian reform in Transylvania)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:185-212
- No. of Pages:28
- Keywords:József Venczel; 1921 Romanian agrarian reform in Transylvania;
- Summary/Abstract:Evoking the scientist József Venczel is a serious challenge because, as aresearcher, he did mostly not what he was called to do based on his knowledgeand skills but what he was allowed or required to do in certain situations. Socialresearcher, university professor, public writer, he was a defi ning personalityof Transylvanian Hungarian sociology between the two world wars. He wasconcerned with the problem of land, the villages in Transylvania, demography,and the methodology of sociology. Only one volume was published duringhis lifetime: Az erdélyi román földbirtokreform [The Romanian Land Reformin Transylvania], published in Cluj in 1942. After the First World War, theRomanian parliament adopted several land reform laws: the law of Bessarabiaon 13 March 1920, the law for the old Kingdom on 17 July 1921, and the lawon the newly acquired territories (Transylvania, Banat, Crişana, Maramureş)on 30 July 1921. The question arises: did the land reform of 1945 pursueprimarily economic policies or did it have minority political objectives? Thefact that the land reform of each part of the country was regulated by separatelaws can be explained not only by the fact that the natural conditions ineach region were different and that there were also differences regarding thedistribution of lands but also – perhaps fi rst of all – by the fact that the nationalpolitical objectives of these land laws were different. Venczel showed that theRomanian decision makers of that time followed primarily national politicaldesires and not an economic or social necessity. When they drafted the lawregarding Transylvania, they aimed for a social reconfi guration to the detrimentof everything Hungarian, the wealth of churches, schools, the public wealthof villages, various humanitarian foundations.
EMBER AZ ERŐTEREKBEN. TORÓ TIBOR (1931–2010)
EMBER AZ ERŐTEREKBEN. TORÓ TIBOR (1931–2010)
(Man in the force fields. Tibor Toró (1931–2010))
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:Hungarian
- Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
- Page Range:213-236
- No. of Pages:24
- Keywords:Tibor Toró; Hungarian community in Transylvania; János Bolyai; nuclear physics; particle physics;
- Summary/Abstract:For the Hungarian community in Transylvania, Tibor Toró was synonymouswith the scientist. From Szeklerland, he came to the university in Timişoaraand graduated from the then recently established pedagogical institute. Aftergraduation, he was a teacher at the institute, which later became a university.Talented graduates with good results were hired regardless of nationality. In aninterview, he confessed: “In Timişoara, I was attracted by the problem of the atom.I realized that the secret of the stars is also hidden in nuclear physics and particlephysics.” He chose atomic physics at a university little known at the time. Torówalked his path alone, without a personal tutor, and reached the highest peaks ofphysics. His book on the neutrino (1969) in Romanian is of historical importancein physics: it describes a completely new fi eld of science at a time when synthesispapers did not exist. He was an exceptional teacher. Professor Toró pushed hisstudents forward: he gave impulses, drew attention to new interpretations, urgedyoung people to read. Tibor Toró was interested in all fi elds of culture. He had ahuge collection of Madách’s masterpiece, The Tragedy of Man: his collection wasclose to fi fty volumes in about 20 languages. Toró presents in a study dedicatedto Madách a historical prediction of his: Madách correctly intuited how thesun and other stars can be replaced as sources of energy. In other studies, Toródemonstrates that the poet Attila József, beyond being an original and extremelytalented poet, was a deep thinker. The poet correctly intuited the problem ofsymmetry and the violation of symmetry. In his essays, Toró demonstrates hisinterest in philosophy and interdisciplinarity. From the 1990s, his attentionturned primarily to János Bolyai. As a Bolyai researcher, he did everything forBolyai to have commemorative signs in Timişoara (commemorative plaque,statue, memorial room). It is the moral duty of the people of Timişoara today andtomorrow to keep Tibor Toró’s memory alive and evoke him with commemorative signs.