Washington, DC – The “Hungarian Review,” the English-language affiliate of the bi-monthly journal Magyar Szemle, edited by Gyula Kodolányi and John O’Sullivan, has published its first 2016 issue.
On the cover: Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, 1893-96. Second Floor Atrium. All photos of Ödön Lechner’s buildings are published by courtesy of József Sisai/ Péter Hámori, Institute of Art History of the Research Centre of Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
As most of the issues in 2015, this one still focuses on the topic of migration. In his editorial note entitled ‘The New Utopia and the Migrants’, John O’Sullivan explains: “Other things being equal, the editors of Hungarian Review would prefer to be dealing with topics other than migration. We have dealt with it in earlier issues in some detail, and the world offers many other things on which clever writers might write clever things.
Some of these other topics are duly covered throughout this issue – for instance, Donald Morse’s account of a trip to Ceauşescu’s totalitarian Rumania, still powerful and shocking twenty-six years after the dictator’s fall. But the fact that a massive and continuing flow of Middle Eastern and African migrants into Europe is imposing a many-sided crisis on the Continent imposes on us an intellectual duty to offer a many-sided commentary upon it.
Accordingly, in this issue we cover migration past and present, into Europe and from Europe, in prose and poetry, in a series of historical reflections, personal accounts, literary essays and political commentaries. Not all our authors agree with each other; it would be a false consensus if they did. But in disagreeing, they raise important questions and reveal important truths not only about migration itself but also about the institutions that have governed it at different periods.”
Therefore the ‘Current’ section contains articles mainly focusing on different aspects of migration, both domestically and globally. In the first article of a two part series, for example, Tibor Frank outlines the various migrations that have shaped Hungarian history and demography from the medieval period to the present.
In his article entitled ‘Migrations in Hungarian History – Part I’, Mr. Frank underlines that “immigration to and emigration from Hungary, both temporary and permanent, have been a reality to reckon with since the birth of the country. Hungary is situated in a geographical and geopolitical zone deeply influenced by the economic, political, social and religious conflicts between East and West, North and South, and by efforts to equalise these differences."
In his essay entitled ‘Refugee Reflections’ János Brenner expresses his opinion in a harsher tone: "… the fact remains that the newfangled German habit of posing as a latter-day knight championing the Holy Grail of political probity is understandably resented by those Central Europeans who have refused to hang up their common sense in the cloakroom of political correctness."
The ‘Current’ section includes other contributions from György Granasztói (On Violence: Latter-Day Mass Migration and Terrorism) and Otto Hieronymi (Globalisation, Economic and Social Order; Human Rights and Humanitarian Action – Part II).
The periodical then continues with a ‘Histories’ section with contributions by Tony Reevy (Black Land); Béla Nóvé (Ödön Pásint: A Prisoner of His Conscience – Part I); Bernard Adams (Grex Monachorum); Donald E. Morse (Travelling in Transylvania 1987-88); Donald E. Morse and Csilla Bertha (Saying What Could Not Be Said: Csaba Lászlóffy’s The Heretic) and Csaba Lászlóffy (The Heretic or a Plague of Slugs – Excerpts from a play).
Finally, the ‘Arts’ section has articles by Klára Tórth (An Exceptional Series of Documentary Films – On the Gyöngyössy – Kapay – Petényi Workshop) and Ilona Sármány Parsons (Ödön Lechner: Maverick, Dreamer, Patriot – An Architect of Modernisation).
Currently, 30 issues of the Hungarian Review (from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016) can be ordered from Amazon.com at:
or directly from the publisher at http://www.hungarianreview.com,
or by calling the Coalition office in Washington.
