Emlékezet és identitás szoborba zárva: a bősi millenniumi emlékmű története – az elbeszélések tükrében
Collective memory and ethnic identity locked in a statue. The story of the millennial statue in Bős/Gabčikovo

Author(s): Katalin Pajor
Subject(s): Cultural history, Ethnohistory, Local History / Microhistory, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Fórum Kisebbségkutató Intézet
Summary/Abstract: This study explores the history, symbolism, and interpretative practices surrounding the Turul monument in Gabčíkovo (Bős, Slovakia), focusing on its role in shaping local and transnational Hungarian identity. It addresses the following questions: In what social, cultural, and political context did the idea and realization of the monument emerge? What is the history of the statue, and how is it connected to the „twin” Turul monuments in Pázmándfalu (Hungary) and Moșnița Nouă (Újmosnica, Romania)? What motivations and meanings have guided its erection, use, and reinterpretation? How has it been perceived within the local community, the Slovak and Hungarian public spheres, and how does it relate to multiple – local, regional, ethnic, and national – layers of identity? Through historical reconstruction, ethnographic accounts, and discourse analysis, the study reveals that the Turul statue in Gabčíkovo was not merely an aesthetic project but a symbolic act of identity assertion. Its repeated recontextualization—from its denied installation in the 1990s to its re-erection in 2000 and relocation in 2021—demonstrates the continuous negotiation of symbolic space between majority and minority. Ritual practices and media interpretations show that the monument embodies both memory and resistance, functioning as a dynamic, reinterpreted “text” of belonging, where the question „Whose space is this?” remains perpetually open

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