Robert Nemes

Another Hungary

The Nineteenth-Century Provinces in Eight Lives

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Robert Nemes is Associate Professor of History at Colgate University. He is the author of The Once and Future Budapest (2005).

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 312
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Juni 2016
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 231mm x 152mm x 23mm
• Gewicht: 544g
• ISBN-13: 9780804795913
• ISBN-10: 0804795916
• Artikelnr.: 44383357

Autorenporträt

Robert Nemes is Associate Professor of History at Colgate University. He is the author of The Once and Future Budapest (2005).

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
Introduction
chapter abstract
The introduction describes the genesis of the book, establishes the
historical questions it addresses, points to the answers to come, and
situates this work in the historiography of Central and Eastern Europe.
Most importantly, it makes the case for collective biography, which is the
most innovative feature of this book. The introduction also defines the
main features of northeastern Hungary and stresses what is gained by
viewing nineteenth-century history from the vantage point of this poor,
remote region. Drawing on Benedict Anderson and Edward Said, it closes with
reflections on the "imagined geography" as an analytical framework that
captures the mixture of acute observations and bold visions of change
offered by the eight men and women examined here.
1The Aristocrat
chapter abstract
The subject of the first chapter is Count József Gvadányi, an aristocrat of
Italian origins who spent forty years as a cavalry officer before becoming
a prolific author in his sixties. Largely forgotten today, Gvadányi was one
of the most popular authors of the 1790s. He churned out biographies,
military studies, and long, narrative poems. An analysis of the poetry
reveals Gvadányi to be a careful observer of northeastern Hungary. The
count was supportive of upward mobility through education and largely
sympathetic to the diverse peoples who lived in the region (although Jews
have no place in his literary landscapes). In this way, Gvadányi's writings
begin to construct the "myth of the provinces": namely, the belief that
Hungary had great untapped economic potential and that its different
peoples lived in relative harmony. Later chapters take apart and add to
this myth.
2The Merchant
chapter abstract
The second chapter drops from the top of the social pyramid to near the
bottom, to a Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrant from Poland. Ráfáel
Kästenbaum came to Hungary as a young man and worked as a merchant and
moneylender in northeastern Hungary. Kästenbaum left behind few
biographical documents. But when he died, his will showed him to be much
wealthier and much more generous than anyone had suspected. A
reconstruction of Kästenbaum's life shows the precarious position of Jews
in provincial Hungary, just as his will's surprising bequests reveal the
era's faith in education and the importance of local political coalitions
(in this case the county nobility and Jewish elites) to achieve change.
3The Engineer
chapter abstract
Hopes for the dramatic economic transformation of provincial Hungary
defined the life of Pál Vásárhelyi. Born into a poor noble family,
Vásárhelyi became a water engineer, an occupation with great responsibility
but limited social status and low pay. In this capacity Vásárhelyi spent
long years on the Danube and Tisza Rivers. His writings encompass technical
reports, pamphlets on water measurement, newspaper articles, and published
speeches. In unguarded moments, Vásárhelyi let his imagination fly and
dreamed of using river regulation to solve the economic, transportation,
and social problems that beset the provinces. Vásárhelyi's plans were not
fully realized, but they sketch a very different "imagined geography" of
Hungary, which centered on the northeastern counties rather than on
Budapest.
4The Teacher
chapter abstract
Economic issues give way to national questions with Klára Lövei, whose
noble family had also fallen on hard times. As a woman, she had fewer
options than Vásárhelyi. Undaunted, Lövei explored nearly all the career
paths open to women of her era (actress, governess, teacher) before
becoming in turn a revolutionary, political prisoner, and journalist.
Letters, memoirs, and newspaper articles document her remarkable career.
These sources can help us understand the roles played by women in
provincial society and the importance of education as a means of individual
and collective change. Finally, Lövei's pronounced Hungarian national
loyalty illuminates what nationalism meant in an ethnically mixed border
region.
5The Journalist
chapter abstract
This chapter also looks at nationalism, but this time from a Romanian point
of view. Iosif Vulcan was descended from one of the most prestigious
Romanian families in Austria-Hungary. He wrote plays, novels, and poetry;
he championed Romanian-language theater; and he edited the journal The
Family for nearly forty years. Scholars often view him as a Romanian
national activist; this chapter asks what is gained if we see him as a
provincial one. An examination of Vulcan's career shows the development of
the public sphere (newspapers, books, associations) in the provinces. It
also expands the argument (begun in previous chapters) about how
nationalism worked on the ground in ethnically and religiously diverse
regions.
6The Rabbi
chapter abstract
What role did religion play in public life? What about antisemitism? How
did Jews respond to pressures to adopt the language and customs of the
majority Christian society? Answers to these questions emerge from the life
of Rabbi Ármin Schnitzer, who grew up in northeastern Hungary but later
settled in a small town in western Hungary. Schnitzer published a memoir,
as well as speeches, sermons, and newspaper articles. In them we can see
how Schnitzer tried to define a Jewish identity that fused Hungarian
patriotism, imperial loyalty, and a measure of Zionism. They also show how
Schnitzer used the local press, the town council, and networks of friends
to respond to statewide crises, including the Tiszaeszlár ritual murder
case in the 1880s and the battle over civil marriage in the 1890s. From
this perspective, local political institutions appear much more vibrant and
viable than is often assumed.
7The Tobacconist
chapter abstract
This chapter moves into the Hungarian countryside and looks at agriculture,
the engine of the economy, albeit one that sometimes raced and sometimes
sputtered and stalled. It focuses on Vilmos Daróczi, a Jew who grew up in a
small village and eventually made his way to Budapest. Daróczi worked as a
tobacco grower, tobacco buyer, and for the last quarter-century of his
life, editor of a newspaper devoted to tobacco cultivation. The
northeastern counties figured prominently in Dároczi's thinking, as he
dreamed of remaking the rural society from which he had emerged. Daróczi's
work can help us think about Hungary's place in the global economy, about
economic forces remaking the countryside, and about the connections between
patriotism and consumption.
8The Writer
chapter abstract
Margit Kaffka grew up just a dozen miles from where Daróczi was born. Yet
she did not share his optimism about the countryside. The daughter of yet
another poor Hungarian nobleman, Kaffka eked out a living as a teacher and
writer, first in a small town and then in Budapest. From there she looked
back in anger on the Hungarian provinces. Her great novel Colors and Years
(1912) examined the disintegration of the provincial nobility and
documented its effects on women. To Kaffka, the provinces' social order was
feudal, its Hungarian nationalism hollow, and its local politics corrupt.
And yet, her work does offer a path forward that led through - rather than
away from - the provinces. In this way, Kaffka retained something of the
"myth of the provinces," even as she insightfully diagnosed its woes.
Conclusion
chapter abstract
The conclusion highlights the common themes that join the lives of these
men and women: their mobility, education, political engagement,
professional achievements, social networks, and local loyalties. It
documents how differently these men and women have been remembered, from
the house museum of "the journalist" to the vanished grave of "the
merchant." Most importantly, the conclusion answers the questions laid out
in the introduction and pursued in the eight body chapters, emphasizing the
innovative responses of some men and women to larger historical changes,
the complex role played by ideologies in the countryside, and the shifting
relationship between center and periphery. It closes with a brief
reflection on what is gained by looking at history through a collective
biography.