Hungarian Revival [antikvár]

Note to the English edition by Michiel Klinkhamer In the few months since its publication Hungarian Revival has provoked much lively discussion in the Netherlands. Apart from the controversy in the press that started in January 1996, when a review appeared in the NRC Handelsblad written by Peter Michielsen, the paper's East Europe editor, there was also a debate on 21st February 1996 at Amsterdam University's Institute for Russian and East European Studies entitled: 'Hungarian Revival: science or politics?'. I was one of the participants in the debate. The main objection raised by colleagues of Dr. L. Maracz, author of the book, and voiced by the assistant professor was that the point of view defended in the book is nationalistic. In the discussion that followed, it emerged that there was neither clarity nor consensus on the meaning of this concept. If one understands by nationalism, striving to unite all members of a nation within the borders of one state, then this book could rightly be called anti-nationalistic. It warns of the dangers that would arise if certain Central European states, such as Slovakia, Serbia and Rumania, inhabited by a diversity of nationalities, tried to impose the essentially Western European concept of creating a homogeneous nation state. Apart from that, the book also rejects the not really topical issue of Hungarian nationalism. The author believes that the solution to the problem of the Hungarian national communities must lie in respecting human rights and autonomy. Several variants of autonomy are discussed in the book. The solutions found to this question will, to a large degree, determine the European internal structure and character of the future. How we treat our national communities in Europe is, in fact, a structural matter. Hungarian Revival is a merciless chronicle and analysis of the persistent policy of compulsory assimilation imposed on Hungarian communities living in Hungary's neighbouring countries. It is a plea for the preservation of the Hungarian nation as a spiritual and cultural entity. Peacefully objecting to