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Warum eben Holland? Zur Anwendbarkeit theoretischer Ansätze zeitgenössischer niederländischer Gesellschaftswissenschaftler bei der Interpretation des Romans Die Geschichte meiner Frau von Milán Füst
199-221Views:41The present study tries to re-read Milán Füst’s novel with the help of theories of three contemporary Dutch scholars. Mieke Bal’s academic bestseller, The Travelling Concepts helps us to recognize that static notions of masculinity as well as national and gender stereotypes, which are challenged by the novel, have always been changing dynamically. On the basis of Johan Goudsblom’s theories on the relationship between fire and civilization, on time regimes and on the mystery of the origin of the masculine power one can also prove that Füst’s novel keeps on playing with virtues believed to be masculine, such as the self-control and power over the women. And finally, the essays of the socio-psychologist Douwe Draaisma provide explanation for how the autobiographical memory of the narrator-protagonist determines the special narrative structure of the novel, why he is dwelling on superfluous details and why he leaves out years of his life story.
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Motivating Factors in Foreign Volunteering: Tibor Péchy’s Enlistment in the Anglo-Boer War
59-73Views:58Twelve Hungarian volunteers have been identified so far among the 2,500 pro-Boer
foreign volunteers who were ready to sacrifice their lives in the war between the Boer
republics and the British Empire (1899–1902). The overwhelming majority of these
volunteers travelled to South Africa to join the commandos of the Boers following the
escalation of the conflict. Tibor Péchy was one of the Hungarian combatants, but in
contrast with the other Hungarian volunteers, he had been living in South Africa since
1896. This makes him a special Hungarian participant of the Anglo-Boer War. The present
paper analyses the motivating factors behind Péchy’s enlistment with the Boers. -
Cultuur onderwijzen in NVT-lessen voor Hongaarse universiteitsstudenten
117-160Views:72If we look at language course books for beginners we see that a lot of cultural aspects emerge even from these low-level texts. I analysed a Dutch course book (B. de Boer, M. van der Kamp, B. Lijmbach (2010). Nederlands in gang. Coutinho) and tried to find the matches with Hofstede’s five dimensions, with special attention to the elements of dimensions which can be related to education and foreign language teaching. I found that three dimensions which are typical of Dutch society and which are different in Hungarian society, may influence foreign language learners’ perception of the target language and culture . These are 1. Small power distance (especially at school and at home) which can foster or impede creativity; it also has far-reaching consequences for the degree of directness/indirectness in communication in teacher-learner interaction and also on societal level; and its effect on dealing with guests and privacy. 2. Individualism: influences our contacts in the family, but also our rights to freedom of opinion and expression in social interaction, and it also influences the space, the houses where we live and how we deal with guests. 3. Femininity: this dimension plays an important role in negotiations and discussions. Working on reaching mutual understanding and the willingness to listen to each others’ opinion are also characteristic features of femininity. This dimension influences also our ideas about the past, the history of our country and how important this national history is for our country at present. We also wittness some kind of shift towards masculinity in the Netherlands in the past years which again lets us think further how we can incorporate teaching culture in our language curriculum, without being stereotypical. 118 Eszter Zelenka In my paper I discuss the different possible ways of drawing beginners’ attention to cultural values, hidden in texts; and the choices that a foreign language teacher has to make in this process.