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The Formation and the Development of the Újházhely Residential Area in Hajdúnánás
171-188Views:19In Hungary, it was the land reform of 1945 which caused one of the most significant changes in the land policy. This measure, aimed at allocating land to landless peasants, utilized a total of 3,220,000 ha, which were distributed among 642,000 beneficiaries. As a result, each beneficiary received an average of 2,9 ha of agricultural land, on which they could make a living, albeit under difficult conditions. Historical research has examined this phenomenon, allowing us to understand its effects on Hungarian agriculture and the peasants. It is a less known fact, that not only agricultural lands but also – according to the previous works – in approximately 2800 settlements 300,000–450,000 building sites were distributed. As a result, new farmstead centers, settlements and residential areas emerged. This topic is a less researched area of the history of the Hungarian countryside, even though it caused many changes in the society of these settlements. To provide a more comprehensive understanding of these phenomena, the aim of my presentation is to illustrate this process using the example of Hajdúnánás, a small town located in northern Hajdú-Bihar County. This includes the occupation of agricultural lands, payment of expenses (such as contributions and redemption fees), the distribution of building sites, and the settlement and development of the Újházhely residential area. For this research, I utilized historical sources including electoral registers, house tax records, maps, statistical data, archival sources, legal documents, and interviews.
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The Traditional Village Represented in Romania’s Open-Air Ethnographic Museums
205-216Views:112This paper work is a very brief presentation that brings the reader into the front of the most important open-air museums from Romania and tries to emphasize the value of their identity. This work is, in fact, a presentation of an extensive doctoral program, after which we will publish a book, and we hope that we will be able to develop certain topics right in the pages of the journal Ethnographica et Folkloristica Carpathica. The quick development of museums has generated a veritable Romanian school of museography, recognized both nationally and internationally. The source of this development is represented by the speech of museum; that is how the museum manages to revaluate its available potential and to get imposed in areas of interest from most various: scientific, educational, cultural, touristic, ensuring the representation of as many ethnographical areas as possible. Although the concept of ethnographical museum allows multiple approaches and definitions, this essay highlights the role of the identity of museums and their way of representing the traditional village, given the dynamics and the abandonment of traditions.
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Memory and Enculturation
253-274Views:28It may be safely stated at present that the triad of past, tradition and memory has accelerated at an incredible pace. Memory seems to keep the events of the past alive for ever shorter periods of time. Rites, memories and remembrance are now handed down as written sources in the form of textbooks. How does the narrative of the teaching aids that have emerged in the 21st century then evolve and what are/have been their achievements in the construction of national identity? How do hon- és népismeret [Our homeland and its people] textbooks function as tools for building a national community? The subject hon- és népismeret taught in grade schools examines and discusses national culture and the processes of cultural reconstruction in a rather specific cross-section. Beyond exploring the interdependence and interlocking of the context and practice of ‘knowledge creation’/‘knowledge transmission’ in primary educational institutions, this paper aims to explore some salient observations on its generational relationship to memory. The importance of this subject and textbook is/has been undeniable, both as a tool for national and social community-building on the one hand and as a tangible archive of the process of heritage transmission/patrimonization on the other hand.
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Posthumous Culture of Montenegrins on a Timeline between Past and Present : The Pattern of Behavior
33-53Views:126Montenegro is a country with a valuable and long tradition of everything related to life, especially death. Posthumous culture is remarkably detailed and significant for the people, most importantly in the earlier period when it represented the only foundation that held society together in difficult historical moments. This type of partially morbid way of self-expression of people has its roots in the deep and troubled past, often difficult and cruel to the inhabitants of Montenegro. The attention was pointed at the many traditional aspects, unwritten rules, and customs different from place to place, but in general, preserving the same function. From the type of clothes for the deceased, the eulogies uttered at the gravesite, to the male and female roles at the commemorations – the article handles the typical funeral processes. The aim of this paper is to acquaint the reader with the manner of behaviour of the Montenegrins towards the phenomenon that occurs when a person in the community dies and how a typical family handles the situation. For the sake of the research, interviews with two subjects providing their own perspectives were conducted. The significance of the study is personified by the sometimes contradictory stances of the people on death and the inevitable merging of secular and religious life.
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The Interpretation of Strangeness and its Impact on the Local Society in Beregdéda, Transcarpathia
87-106Views:109My work focuses on the different patterns of experiencing strangeness. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork in Beregdéda, Transcarpathia, Ukraine, I try to reflect on why the articulation of strangeness becomes necessary, and how does the appearance of the stranger modify, erode, rebuild or create symbolic boundaries between the Hungarian-Ukrainian-Gypsy ethnic groups living together. At the time of the fieldwork, in spring 2015, the Ukrainian-Russian war conflict provided a breeding ground for stereotypical perceptions of ethnicity, while the appearance of the stranger tourist also led to the strengthening of the relationship between Ukrainians, Hungarians and Gypsies in the local society, and to the formation of a united front. The understanding of the stranger is constantly changing in line with the various regional and global cultural and economic processes and is formulated with individual interests in mind.
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Youth Education Efforts of the 1940s: Representative Activities of the Mass-dance Cult-programme and the Beginnings of the Scientific Dance-research in Budapest
51-93Views:28My paper aims to present the dance culture of the 1940’s and explore its scientific approach to dance. According to results of my research, the “national-rescue activity” originating in Budapest looked for the promise of demonstrating “cultural-superiority” in youth-education. Movement-artists and newly formed amateur ensembles also played role in this. The initial dance-research followed the European research direction, considered the application of ethnological theories as the basis. When examining the interaction of city and countryside with a cultural-historical anthropological approach, my questions formulated in my writing: Did the village research and Scientific Institute-work in the 1940’s have an impact on the style of dance that also played a representative role, appearing as a result of the youth education efforts in Budapest? How does appear in the source-works that published the research-results of that time? My paper seeks the answers to these questions.
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Alligators in the Sewers: Urban Legends about Terrifying Animals and Frightening Places
7-29Views:163The aim of the present study is to provide an overall picture of the nature of urban folklore using the “Alligators in the Sewers” urban legend type circulated in both the Hungarian and international press and by word of mouth. While contemporary legends have attracted only sporadic attention in Hungarian research to date, by illustrating the historical development of this legend type the aim of the present case study is to demonstrate how the phenomenon has existed in the Hungarian press for almost 200 years.
The present study attempts to identify the kind of opportunities for interpretation offered by these stories in the field of folkloristics; the extent to which they are relevant beyond their literal meaning; and the ways in which they shed light on modern-day understandings of the world. Giant reptiles that are not indigenous to Europe are terrifying to the average individual, while at the same time they evoke a yearning for the natural world in city dwellers trapped amid concrete walls. Urban sewers and storm drains hold similar terrors: on the one hand, they are there to remove filth and symbolize the more unsavory aspects of urban life, while on the other hand their hidden presence beneath the ground offers ample opportunity for the projection of numerous fantasies. Animals that lurk in the sewers, from where they emerge to attack people, are manifestations, contained within simple, traditional narrative frameworks, of the murkiness of highly structured societies and of the sense of danger that this opacity engenders in us. The emergence and persistence of such stories can be attributed to a number of social practices, such as circuses, sideshows, and the keeping of reptiles as pets, along with the respective press reports and rumors.
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The Transformation of European Fretted Zithers in the 19th and 20th Centuries
133-168Views:21Different types of fretted zithers appeared in the western and northern parts of Europe and in the Alpine regions 500-600 years ago to meet the needs of rural folk music. In the 19th and 20th centuries, in northern Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, zithers were constantly pushed out of village folk music. The final blow was the spread of the accordion to the zither. However, in some regions of southern Germany, Bavaria and Austria, zithers did not disappear, but underwent a number of significant modifications. In the first step, the volume of the instrument was increased (Salzburg form). This variety, called the Kratzzither was further developed in two different ways. To ensure that the zither could play with other instruments, the Scherrzither and Raffele were developed. Another development direction of the Kratzzither was the Schlagzither, which already provided a harmonic accompaniment to the melody. The systematic development of the Schlagzither made possible the birth of the Austrian and German Konzertzithers, whose harmonization already meets the requirements of classical music.
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The Concept of Dissimilation in the Study of Inter-ethnic Marriages within Homogeneous Meskhetian Turkish, Azerbaijani Marriages in Turkestan
95-114Views:16While analyzing the preservation of cultural heritage is more straightforward in homogenous households, inter-ethnic marriages present a captivating lens through which to examine cultural integration, social identity, and the preservation of tradition within diverse societies. This study explores the dynamics of inter-ethnic and homogeneous marriages among Meskhetian Turks and Azerbaijanis in Kazakhstan, applying the theoretical framework of dissimilation theory. By drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2024 which involved 45 interviews from two research villages, Turki Poselkasy and Kentau, located in the Turkestan province in the southern part of Kazakhstan, the research investigates the historical context and contemporary realities faced by these communities. In doing so, it highlights differences in culture, language, and social norms that can influence the formation of both mixed and homogeneous marriages among minority groups in the region. The theoretical background of the study is grounded in dissimilation theory, which posits that individuals in inter-ethnic marriages tend to distance themselves from their own ethnic groups to establish new identities within the context of their relationships. Through interviews and surveys conducted across diverse settlements, the study explores social identities and groups as well as concepts of cultural and social differences including gender dynamics, to uncover the intricate mechanisms of dissimilation.
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The Functional Sites of “Sites of Memory” in Hungarian-Chinese Bilingual School in Budapest
55-66Views:108Various aspects of the culture and educational practices of the bilingual school in Budapest’s 15th district, including educational materials, educational drama, and educational rituals, among others, reflect the functional sites of Pierre Nora’s memory sites. These sites are crucial in shaping students’ cultural identities and connecting them to their heritage. By incorporating sites of memory into their school life can help students understand and identify their cultural roots, develop a sense of belonging, and acquire the linguistic and cultural competencies needed for cross-cultural communication. In this paper, based on related memory theories, I explore the definition of functional sites in the sites of memory in schools. Combining the fieldwork in Hungarian-Chinese Bilingual School, it is believed that there are many functional sites of the sites of memory in the bilingual school. The representative functional sites are educational textbooks, dramas, and rituals. This article studies the three main functional sites of memory. It examines how these sites are used in bilingual schools to enhance cultural understanding, promote linguistic and cultural competence, and foster a sense of belonging among students. We will also discuss how these functional sites of memory sites reconstruct or reinterpret Chinese cultural memory.
