Society, culture and politics in Hungary, 1945-2010. - JMMZ270

• Title: Society, culture and politics in Hungary, 1945-2010.
• Czech title: Společnost, kultura a politika v Maďarsku 1945-2010.
• Guaranteed by: Department of German and Austrian Studies (23-KNRS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2018
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (15)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Andrea Talaber

Annotation

Last update: prof. PhDr. Ota Konrád, Ph.D. (15.02.2018)

This course examines the history of Hungary from 1945 to 2010, covering the end of the Second World War and the Communist takeover, the Communist regime, system change and the first 20 years of Hungarian democracy after 1989. During the course students will study the key events of Hungarian history after 1945: the Communist take-over, the Stalinist period, the 1956 revolution, János Kádár’s ‘goulash Communism’, the 1989 roundtable talks, the regime’s collapse, and the shift (and challenges) to a democratic system of governance.

Course completion requirements

Last update: prof. PhDr. Ota Konrád, Ph.D. (15.02.2018)

2,000-word mid-term essay (75% of the mark)

Individual presentation on Week 12 (25% of the mark)

 

Both assessments must be attempted for an overall pass.

Literature

Last update: prof. PhDr. Ota Konrád, Ph.D. (15.02.2018)

Recommended reading (readings will also be assigned to individual weeks):

 

Apor, Péter Fabricating Authenticity in Soviet Hungary: The Afterlife of the First Hungarian Soviet Republic in the Age of State Socialism, London, New York and Delhi: Anthem Press, 2014.

Borhi, László ‘Stalinist terror in Hungary, 1945-1956’ in McDermott and Stibbe (eds) Stalinist Terror in Eastern Europe: Elite purges and mass repression, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2010, pp. 119-140.

Fowler, Brigid ‘Nation, State, Europe and National Revival in Hungarian Party Politics: The Case of the Millennial Commemorations’ in Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2004, 57-83.

Granville, Johanna ‘Poland and Hungary, 1956: A comparative essay based on new archival findings’ in McDermott and Stibbe (eds) Revolution and Resistance in Eastern Europe: Challenges to Communist Rule, Oxford and New York: Berg, 2006, pp. 57-77.

Greene, Beth ‘Selling market socialism: Hungary in the 1960s’ in Slavic Review, Vol. 73, No. 1, 2014, pp. 108-132.

Kenéz, Peter, Hungary from the Nazis to the Soviets: The Establishment of the Communist Regime in Hungary, 1944-1948, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Mark, James ‘“The Spanish analogy”: Imagining the Future in State Socialist Hungary, 1948-1989’ in Contemporary European History, Vol. 26, No. 4, 2017, pp. 600-620.

Mark, James ‘Society, Resistance and Revolution: The Budapest Middle Class and the Hungarian Communist State, 1948-1956’ in The English Historical Review, Vol. 120, No. 488, 2005, pp. 963-986.

Mevius, Martin Agents of Moscow: The Hungarian Communist Party and the Origin of Socialist Patriotism 1941-1953, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Nyssönnen, Heino ‘Salami Reconstructed: “Goulash Communism” and Political Culture in Hungary’ in Cahiers du Monde russe, Vol. 47, No. 1/2, 2006, pp. 153-172.

Palonen, Emilia ‘Articulating the frontier of Hungarian politics: Demszky on 15 March’ in Central European Political Science Review, Vol. 6, No. 20, 2005, pp. 140-165.

Rév, István ‘Holy days’ in Rév (ed) Retroactive Justice: Prehistory of Post-Communism, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005, pp. 140-201.

Swain, Nigel ‘Negotiated Revolution in Poland and Hungary, 1989’ in McDermott and Stibbe (eds) Revolution and Resistance in Eastern Europe: Challenges to Communist Rule, Oxford and New York: Berg, 2006, pp. 139-156.

 

Syllabus

Last update: prof. PhDr. Ota Konrád, Ph.D. (15.02.2018)

The course is structured chronologically. Each week we will discuss a decade, with some classes focusing on key events in Hungary. Classes will be held in a seminar setting, with discussions and readings, through which students will be familiarised with the general historical and political background, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the various social, cultural and political aspects of the history of this period through a focus of specific themes. These themes will include: women and gender roles; film, music and other forms of entertainment; crime; commemorative practices; protest; and cultural politics. The course will be taught with the aid of a variety of sources, such as film, music, literature, contemporary publications and archival sources.

 

 

Weekly structure:

1.      Introduction – the Communist take-over in Hungary

2.      Stalinism in Hungary (1948-1956)

3.      The 1956 revolution

4.      The aftermath of the revolution (1956-1960)

5.      Goulash communism (1960s)

6.      The 1970s

7.      The 1980s

8.      1989

9.      Post-1989: free elections and the challenges of democracy

10.  The Millennium commemorations (2000-2001)

11.  NATO, EU and unfinished revolutions?

12.  Conclusion (student presentations)