A Foreign Lady: The Polish Episode in the Influenza Pandemic of 1918

Author(s): Lukasz Mieszkowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 113/2016

The essay describes the Polish episode in the 1918–20 influenza pandemic, situating the occurrence in the European and international context, and covering some relevant research issues. The topic is introduced by a brief discussion of the most recent hypotheses regarding the genesis of the pandemic and how it related to the World War in its declining phase. The core section, discussing the situation in Poland, begins with a description of the civilisation crisis caused by the frontline recurring across the country and the policies pursued by the occupational powers and the tough sanitary conditions implied by these developments. A survey of accessible sources is preceded by an outlined reconstruction of the course of the epidemic in various areas of the country, delineation of its timeframe, description of the symptoms and of the responses to the disease, attempts made to prevent its dissemination, and treatment methods in use at the time. The author seeks to determine the basic figures such as the morbidity and mortality rates, as compared against the data available for the other countries. In conclusion, considered are the presumed reasons behind the disappearance of the ‘Spanish flu’ epidemic experience from Polish collective memory.

A gyulafehérvári székesegyház déli tornya

Author(s): Balázs Halmos,Katalin Marótzy,Gergely Domonkos Nagy / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: VI-VII/2012

In 2008–2009 the Department for History of Architecture and of Monuments of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics had made a true-to-form architectural survey on the southern tower of the Cathedral of Saint Michael in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia, RO). The true-to-form architectural survey is based on the method used in “Bauforschung”, the building archaeology practice developed and widely used in Germany. In this context, survey is not only a tool of documentation but is considered as a research method in itself. We had the possibility to piece together the on-the-spot analysis with the research of archives, too. In the following study we try to add new opinions and to modulate the formerly known building-history of the southern tower. The building of this part of the Cathedral begun in the second part of the 13th century, the last bigger work was taken in 1856. Our research makes an attempt to divide the different periods of the design, and the various restorations on the facades. The work undertaken is not completed, we expect to carry on the survey of the interior in the immediate future.

A hozomány mint a társadalmi rétegződés fokmérője

Author(s): Anikó Kovács / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 06/2016

A Karib-térség fogalmának értelmezési kísérletei

Author(s): Emoke Horváth / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2014

In the past fifteen years researchers have reinterpreted the notion of the Caribbean, and this paper focuses on the analyses of the transformation. The oldest concept related to the topic concentrated on the chain of islands from Florida to Venezuela. The historical synonyms of the Caribbean islands were Antilles and West Indies. The common features of the region, the sugar plantations cultivated by forced labour of the slaves, were extended to Belize, Guiana (British Guiana) and Suriname (Dutch Guiana), although their territory belonged to the Mainland of Central America and South America. The third interpretation concentrates on the geopolitical approach and includes, besides the historical definition the countries, the mainland of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama). The political and economical urge of the last century transformed the concept, which has embraced a wider definition, Cuenca del Caribe or the Caribbean Basin, the most common use today relating to the chain of the islands, the countries of mainland Central America, Guiana, Suriname, Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela. Finally, the author attempts to create her own interpretation.

A kulturális és nemzeti identitás megfogalmazása Japánban és Közép-Európában a 18-19. században

Author(s): Mária Ildikó Farkas / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2016

Kokugaku of the Edo period can be seen as a key factor in defining cultural (and national) identity based on Japanese cultural heritage in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Kokugaku focused on Japanese classics, on exploring, studying and reviving (or even inventing) ancient Japanese language, literature, myths, history and also political ideology. ‘Japanese culture’ as such was distinguished from Chinese (and all other) cultures, and thus ‘Japanese identity’ was defined. Meiji scholars used kokugaku conceptions of Japan to construct a modern nationalism that was not simply derived from Western models and was not purely instrumental, but made good use of pre-modern and culturalist conceptions of community. The role of pre-modern cultural identity in the formation of modern Japanese (national) identity – following mainly Miroslav Hroch’s comparative and interdisciplinary theory of national development – can be examined in comparison with the ‘national awakening’ movements of the peoples of EastCentral Europe. Before modernity, in the shadow of a cultural and/or political ‘monolith’ (China for Japan, and Germany for Central Europe), ethnic groups or communities started to evolve their own identities with cultural movements focusing on their own language and culture, thus creating a new type of community, the nation. A comparative examination of texts (discourses) illustrates that similar modes of argumentation (narratives) can be identified in these movements: ‘language’ as the primary bearer of collective identity, the role of language in culture and ‘culture’ as the main common attribute of the community; as well as similar aspirations to explore, search and develop the native language, ‘genuine’ culture, and ‘original’ traditions. This comparative research offering ‘development patterns’ for interpretation can help us understand how ‘cultural identity’ played an important role in the formation of national identity, with its effect (‘cultural nationalism’) present even today in Japan and in Central Europe, too.

A Life History of the ‘Irish’ Ecotype Tied Stones and Loose Dogs

Author(s): Marcas Mac COINNIGH / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

The term ecotype was first introduced to the field of folkloristics by Carl Wilhelm von Sydow (1878–1952), who proposed the idea that folktales develop from base forms due to transformations triggered by specific environmental conditions before eventually stabilising within cultural districts. The general analogy was popular amongst folklorists who readily invoked the concept to deconstruct a wide range of genres including rhyming couplets, folk ballads, folktales, fairytales, personal narratives, legends and urban legends. It is unfortunate, however, that ecotypes have largely been ignored by scholars working in the fields of paremiology, especially when one considers not only the established inter-relationships between proverbial material and other folkoristic genres, but also the recent pioneering cross-cultural analyses of idiomatic expressions in European languages and beyond.

A moralitás cenzusai

Author(s): András Nógrádi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2013

Review of: Kathrin Levitan "A Cultural History of the British Census", 2011 by: Nógrádi András

A múlt arcai és a jelen harcai

Author(s): Gyöngy Kovács Kiss / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 08/2015

A nonadorantizmus két kelet-közép-európai módozatáról a 16. században (Martin Seidel és Szymon Budny)

Author(s): Mihály Balázs / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2-3/2017

The international literary history focusing on the antecedents of the enlightenment era has a particular interest in nonadorantism, the most radical branch of antitrinitarianism. This article focuses on research about Martin Seidel (?–?, 16–17th century) and Szymon Budny (1533–1593). In Seidel’s case new documents have been discovered in the archives which reveal new relations and connections in his work life which make it possible to date the origins of nonadorantism to a significantly earlier time. The article sums up the English, German, Spanish, Polish and Italian papers, and while doing so, Budny and Seidel are repositioned on the Eastern-Central European religious map. The article sketches the relations between the works of Budny and Seidel, as well as those of Francis David (Dávid Ferenc) (1510?–1579), Jacobus Palaeologus (1520?–1585) and Matthias Vehe-Glirius (1545?–1590).

A nyelv, a valóság és a tények átértékelődése.Egy kívülálló konstrukciója a kortárs historiográfia hatástörténetileg jelentősnek látszó csoportjairól

Author(s): József Jászberényi / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 5-6/2001

My paper – concentrating on the different interpretations of the three factors in the title - orders the most important groups of historiography of the end of 20th century in a brief narrative. My basic theory is that the way of thinking that reflects on our pre-determination by languauge began in the philosophy of the 20’s on the basis of Herder, Humboldt and Nietzsche and appeared in the science of history in the works of concept-history and Hayden White. In the focus of my paper are the new ways of historiography based on these theories, for example: deconstructive historiography, pragmatist historiography, the thoughts and methods of Michel Foucault, and the feminist historiography. The conclusion of studiing these theories of different authors and schools is that the reflective and self-reflective linguistic way of thinking gains more and more ground in international historiography and redefines our basic concepts that were thought to be steady.

A PÉCSI FERHÁD-DZSÁMI

Author(s): László Gere,Balázs Sudár / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2011

Die erste Information über die Moschee von Pascha Ferhád in Pécs findet sich 1663 bei Evlia Cselebi, dem Einzigen, der das besetzte Ungarn detailliert beschrieben hat. Nach Evlia gehörten zur Stiftung von Ferhád auch ein Kloster und ein Bad. Die Stiftungsgebäude stehen zumeist nahe beieinander und bilden einen Stadtteil (mahalle). Die Plätze der drei bedeutendsten Bäder in Pécs sind gut bekannt. Das eine stand innerhalb des Szigeti- Tors und war von Bei Memi gegründet worden, das andere gehörte zur Stiftung von Pascha Kászim und stand am NO-Ende des heutigen Széchenyi-Platzes. Das dritte befand sich in der Király-Gasse und wurde am Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts abgerissen. Auf Grund der Angaben von Evlia Cselebi und der Vermessung Joseph de Haüys vom Oktober 1686 können die Gebäudereste auf dem Grundstück der heutigen Kazinczy-Gasse 4 eindeutig mit der Moschee von Pascha Ferhád identifiziert werden. Berücksichtigt man, dass sich im mündlichen Gerede die Ränge eventuell ändern, müssen wahrscheinlich auch die Angaben der türkischen Sandschak-Konskription (sog. tahrír-defter) des Jahres 1579 beigezogen werden, denen gemäß ein Stadtviertel nach Bei Ferhád benannt war. Die Moschee selbst erscheint bei der Beschreibung eines Hauses: „No 635. Das Haus der Tútí, Tochter von Abdullah, im Stadtteil der Marodeure, nahe der Ferhád- Moschee.“ Der Stadtteil der Marodeure ist auf Grund der Pécser Häuserregistrierung von 1687 in der SW-Hälfte der Stadt, vielleicht an der Stelle der heutigen Zrínyi- Gasse, zu lokalisieren.

A pusztulás képei. Katasztrófa-fotográfia a 19. század második felében

Author(s): Éva Judit Bodovics / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 73/2018

Natural disasters have always been in the crosshairs of attention, and with the increasing access to press they have become so-called media-born events. From the birth of photography onwards, people endeavoured to capture the impact of natural disasters. The present study examines the earliest examples of disaster photography from Hungary, images of major floods in the 1870s. The photos of two Budapest floods (1875, 1876), as well as of those which devastated Miskolc (1878) and Szeged (1879), allow a comparison of the images created by the new technology with graphic depictions of previous eras. In order to draw a general picture of the perception of floods, the study also focuses on the representation of nature, city and people in photography.The photographs examined retain the previous era’s Classicist or Romantic approach to content and stylistic character, while offering unique and novel ways of disaster representation using the language of photography. On one hand, due to technological limitations, the flood narrative created by photography lacks the traditional dramatic style of earlier graphic representations using depictions of motion and emotions. As opposed to these, photographs communicate the silent drama of floods: similarly to post-battle images, the tragedy is encapsulated in the tension between the subject (the destruction) and the extreme serenity of its depiction. On the other hand, due to the – unintentional – departure from the previous dramatic narrative, floods depicted in photographs lose the primary reason that made them a disaster: the extraordinary. Floods are no longer catastropic – stripped of their extraordinariness, they become everyday phenomena, mere misfortune.

A román–magyar viszony viharos történetének mozaikdarabja

Author(s): József Máriás / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 06/2016

A Taste of Diplomacy: Food Gifts for the Muscovite Embassy in Venice (1582)

Author(s): Laura Mesotten / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

A vital factor governing early modern diplomatic relations was the practice of hospitality. To assure that the embassy began amicably, ambassadors had to be received with generosity. The nature and extent of diplomatic hospitality differed according to the host state, but it often included the offer of housing and victuals. This critical edition of a primary source aims to shed new light on the characteristics of diplomatic hospitality by carefully examining a list of expenses drafted by the Venetian office of the Rason Vecchie. This archival document provides a detailed account of all the food that was supplied to host a Muscovite delegation that visited Venice in 1582. In the first place, the article unravels the qualities and dynamics of Venetian food gifts by contextualising and comparing the source with additional Venetian records. Furthermore, it argues that the type of foodstuffs offered, the amount of money spent on them, and the splendour of festive banquets all communicated strong symbolic and political messages. By focusing the analysis on lists of expenses, the relevance of these documents for the study of diplomatic practices is illustrated. Overviews of financial transactions might seem static and dry accounts at first sight, however, when analysed closely, they reveal a great deal about the day-to-day operation of early modern diplomacy.

A történelem folytatódik

Author(s): Tamás Szabó / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2014

Francis Fukuyama: A politikai rend eredete. Az ember előtti időktől a francia forradalomig. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 2012, 688 oldal.

A történettudomány válsága és haszna az antropocén témák tükrében: egyenlőtlenség, hatalom, világrendszer, ellenállás és deep history (Bonneuil és Fressoz: The Shock of the Anthropocene; Lewis és Maslin: The Human Planet)

Author(s): Róbert Balogh / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 25/2019

The importance of the books reviewed here lies in their ability to go beyond the Anthropocene versus Capitalocene debate and in describing a framework of notions that lead to the conclusion that the adequate response to the risks that global biophysical changes bring about is a new mode of living replacing the current form of consumer capitalism. The authors of the two books are two ecologists and two historians. Their arguments converge on the point that if we live in the Anthropocene, then the academic response to this condition is a critical theory that includes a new narrative about human history and analysis of the processes that brought about the current condition and that need to be changed. The new ground that the volumes break makes it possible to hypothesize that historiography may overcome its decades-long crisis as a result of increasing sensitivity to socio-natural phenomena and interaction with biological sciences.

A városvezető és gazdasági elit összetétele Nagybányán 1569 és 1581 között

Author(s): Petra Mátyás-Rausch / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2015

The study examines the leading groups of Nagybánya (Baia Mare) in the area under chamber administration. The most important source was the town-minutes; it includes names of elect officials. Examining the early modern area elite of Nagybánya several basic conclusions may be drawn. In these times three groups belonged to leading political group: craftsmen, miners, and other citizens who couldn’t be categorized. The group of craftsmen had the most important effect on the town’s political life, this stratum could give most jurors and councilors to the government, but at the end of 16th century their influence was forced into background, there were so many reasons for this occurrence. During the area of chamber administration the miners’ participation wasn’t significant in the leading staff in spite of the fact that Nagybánya was a well-known mine town, and there were the mining chamber with the mint, so this town was the centre of mining administration. To the third group belonged citizens in connection with them there aren’t enough information, so they couldn’t be categorized, but “intellectuals” represented this stratum, they could take over the leading role in Nagybánya from craftsmen at the end of 16th century.

A Vécseyek Szatmárban

Author(s): Ildikó Zsoldos / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2017

The present article aims to evaluate the role of the Vécsey family in Szatmár which can be treated as the second most prestigious family in the said county. Furthermore, the article focuses on the political views, party preferences, life strategies of the family members bonded to the Habsburgs and the economic activities carried out in the manor of Sárköz located 10 kilometers from Szatmárnémeti.

A villamos áram bevezetése Kolozsváron (1894–1906)

Author(s): László Fazakas / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 04/2014

“More lighting” – based on this slogan in 1894 a civilian movement launched its activity to improve the conditions of public lighting and to urge the installation of electricity in Cluj. The political debates, assemblies and negotiations regarding this issue could be characterized as a nearly decade long fight with windmills, which fortunately culminated in a success. However, this long process had a major impact on the city, and profound changes were made. The city devoted an enormous amount of money to the introduction of electricity, more than five million crowns. The economic development stagnated due to the decade long inertia and incompetence of the city leaders, but other urbanization processes also accelerated after the introduction of electricity, in spite of the slow convergence the city of Cluj preserved its central role in Transylvania, and due to its established

About Us and Our Neighbours: History Textbooks in the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine

Author(s): Sergiu Musteata / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2017

The principal research question pursued by this work is as follows: How do the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine present one another in their history curricula and textbooks? How do the history textbooks of each of these three countries present the relationship between majorities and minorities?This book is thus focused on two main objectives: first, to generate improved understanding of the state of the discipline of history in these countries via discussion of reforms to and debates around history curricula in each country, and second, to shed light on the ways in which history textbooks in each of the three countries represent the other two and their peoples.Curriculum development and textbook production in all three countries still remain centralised. Textbooks are produced by state and private publishing houses. Most textbooks are curriculum-based and developed according to the guidelines issued by the Ministries of Education. Through their textbook publishing policy, these ministries control the content and quality of textbooks. History curricula and textbooks in all three countries have progressed, but we still encounter many problems. Among them are the following:• the content of curricula and history textbooks continues to place too much emphasis on national aspects to the detriment of the world, regional, and local dimensions of history;• it reflects the history of wars and violence instead of giving more space to periods of peaceful coexistence, cooperation and cultural communication, or of mutual enrichment between various social groups as well as between nations;• it neglects regional history and cultural and historical links with neighbouring countries;• as it stands, it causes problems in history education and the development of ethnic identity, as well as the relationship between “Us” and “Others”;• it leads to or accepts poor textbook design.The relationship between national and European history remains a closely debated topic in all three societies. Their shared reality, as evidenced by this study, is that all three countries are currently not presenting one another in any meaningful way in their history textbooks at all educational levels. In all three countries, history education and textbooks are dominated by political history and narratives of victimisation. National histories do not pay attention to their neighbours.History textbooks play an important part in the process of collective identity formation, building a relationship with the past and creating an image of the “other”. The content of textbooks determines, in many cases, students' attitudes to their neighbours. Therefore, in order to improve the situation in history education and to develop a tolerant approach to “others” in history textbooks, there is a great need for joint efforts by politicians, professionals and members of civil society in Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.