CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2017
| Author | Szerecz, Thomas |
|---|---|
| Title | Comparative History Writing in Hungary until 1945/48 |
| Summary | This dissertation presents a historiographical study of the rise of comparative history writing in Hungary in the interwar era, through the Second World War, and its immediate aftermath until 1948, when there was a consolidation of a Stalinist version of historical materialism that brought an end to large-scale regional comparative studies for almost two decades. Hungary’s loss of the First World War was the original impetus for the competition to rewrite a history that also rewrites borders between states, often producing a less plausible version of history, but also for a broadened interest in the shared history and culture of the region, and a better basis for historical research. The dissertation puts forward a thesis of a transformation of historical studies on the neighboring countries that follows a path (1) from being propagandistic nature in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, (2) to eventually a more political history oriented research of the nationalities (minorities) of Hungary before 1918 in order to explain the demise of Hungary, (3) to histories of the neighboring countries themselves, and (4) finally to full-scale comparative histories of Hungary and the neighboring nations, i.e., regional comparative history. These final two stages, which of course did not eliminate entirely the first two, depended on the rise of a group of historians who could learn the languages and research the history of nations neighboring Hungary. This in itself was a difficult task since historians in Hungary previously looked to Germany, France, and the West as foundations of historical comparison rather than the smaller surrounding nations and regions, which also entailed learning the languages of nations that in the interwar era were considered hostile to Hungary. There was a fairly large cohort of young historians, linguists, philologists, and literary historians engaged in this task. Out of this larger group, however, the dissertation focuses on seven who best exemplify the skills needed to engage in regional comparative history, and who had a large enough oeuvre (including monographs) before 1945 in order for this dissertation also to have a basis for evaluation. They are László Makkai, Lajos Tamás, Zoltán I. Tóth, László Gáldi, Domokos Kosáry, Lajos Gogolák, and László Hadrovics. These seven are called the “comparatists” because they consciously engaged in the writing of comparative works and based their studies on what they perceived to be the more advanced methods of the historical sciences of the interwar era. This dissertation shows how comparative history writing in Hungary was syncretic in nature and could be combined with different dominant and minor historiographical schools of the interwar era, a factor which explains its successes and appeal. It explores how robust university departments in Hungary of Romanian and Slavic literatures and training in modern linguistics aided the project of historical comparison. It delves into the nexus of politics, nationalism, and history writing; how nationalism colors the research agenda of historians, and how competition among regional actors set conceptual frameworks. The thesis concludes that in spite of the challenges to impartial history writing in this era, a concerted effort to study the history of the neighboring nations and broader region was not wasted. And though comparative history writing came to an abrupt end, partly during which a majority of the comparatists were marginalized, in many ways it created the foundation for future studies on the region, which however were conceptually framed in Marxist theory. The dissertation thus aims to uncover a broader story of comparative history writing in Hungary that so far has only been told sporadically and is usually hidden under the better-known historiographical debates of the interwar era. Here the order is reversed, and comparative history writing is set up as its own subject which can then reflect back on the historiographical debates of the time. |
| Supervisor | Janowski, Maciej |
| Department | History PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2017/szerecz_thomas.pdf |
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