MOGY. Egy neonacionalista fesztivál elemzése

During the past five years the calendar of Hungarian festivals turned upside down. Along with the well-known rock festivals for the young (e.g. the ’Sziget’) moving hundreds of thousands every summer, a new type of cultural festival is gaining tremendous popularity in Hungary. The MOGY “National Assembly of Hungarians” is a 3-day-long event moving all segments of Hungarian population from teenagers to older generations. The festival is a real “Vessel ritual” characterized by Paul Post, containing religious, neo-nationalist, anti-globalization attitudes at once. My paper will investigate the rituals of these patriotic festivals revealing the participants’ motivation and experiences, trying to answer the ques-tion of how these divergent traditions are elevated into transcendent sphere

A Pan-Hungarian ‘Vessel Ritual’ in Romania

The Whitsun pilgrimage of Csíksomlyó has been attracting pilgrims for more than five centuries. Until the 1940s it was the most important pilgrimage place for the Seklers1 and func-tioned as the sacred centre of Transylvania, the easternmost bastion of Catholicism. After the political changes of 1989 it has gradually turned into the most important Hungarian pilgrimage place. this transformation alone would not be of particular interest in itself, however, the history of Csíksomlyó contains several peculiar elements. the research concerning the history of the pilgrimage place reveal that the origin story of the pilgrimage site is an invented tradition which was meant to strengthen the arriving Seklers’ unity and harmony.2 according to Mohay, this is one of the first invented and constructed legends of the Hungarian nationalism taking shape from the 1780s on. the emerging sense of belonging in this legend helped the hidden and secret continuation of the pilgrimage during the years of the communist-socialist era. During the revitalization process from 1990 this sense of belonging has attracted about 4-500,000 Hungarian pilgrims every year, even though the pilgrimage site is situated 600 kilometres away from the Hungarian border, in the middle of Romania. the aim of this paper is to introduce the ideological transformation and reinterpretation of the revitalized Csíksomlyó pilgrimage of the past two decades connecting to elements beyond catholicism. I try to answer the question of how and why Csíksomlyó became a pilgrimage place for different neopagan religious groups and how they reinterpreted the site, what is the reason for their presence

Exemplary Romas and their Identification Patterns

The aim of the study is to present exemplary figures found in Roma cul - ture. The author distinguishes two main types: Roma exemplary figures arising from official knowledge and from informal knowledge. He includes in the former category historical heroes, artists and stars, while the latter comprises everyday heroes (unheroic heroes). One of the main conclusions of the study is that the Romas either have only superficial knowledge of the Roma exemplary figures existing in official knowledge (e.g. historical heroes, artists), or they project a ste - reotypical image of Romas (e.g. celebs), that make them unsuited to promoting Roma integration. Then, through the example of the community-shaping influ - ence of the Cursillo chorus of the Gypsies in Szendrőlád who have converted to Catholicism, he shows how everyday heroes can provide the identity-shaping influence that is present only superficially in the cult of historical heroes, and as a consequence how they can become foundation stones of Roma integration

MYTHICISED HISTORY : THE DECONSTRUCTED – RECONSTRUCTED LEGEND OF SAINT STEPHEN

Paradigmatic cultural and political changes always influence perception of the past. The changing world-view brings a continuous reinterpretation of history. In this process the judgement of historical figures may change, they may undergo a continuous process of heroisation or deheroisation. In extreme cases heroes may become antiheroes, and antiheroes become heroes. An excellent example of this process is the legend of the Hungarian ruler Saint Stephen (997-1038) now being shaped, which throws light on the driving forces behind the changing vernacular view of history. In it we can see not only the characteristics of the emerging new myths but also the political and religious motivations behind the reinterpretation of history

ONE FROM US, ONE FOR US. VIKTOR ORBÁN IN VERNACULAR CULTURE

A tanulmány Orbán Viktor kultuszát, személyének megjelenését a populáris kultúrában és folklórban elemzi

LÁTHATATLAN HATÁROK. A keresztény – újpogány szinkretizmus

A tanulmány a kereszténység és az újpogányság szinkretizmusának megnyilvánulásait veszi elemzés alá

“Give me some beautiful holy images that are colorful, play music, and flash!” The Roma Pilgrimage to Csatka, Hungary

This study introduces the Csatka pilgrimage, which is one of the most significant festive events for Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. Csatka, a small and secluded village, became one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Roma since the mid-20th century. Tens of thousands of Roma, entire families from Hungary and the surrounding countries arrive to the feast on Nativity Day at the beginning of September. For them, however, the rite is not only about religious actions, but also about their powerful role in strengthening Roma ethnic identity. Through the analysis of the rite, we can gain a good insight into the Roma lived religiosity and the role of faith in the construction of their ethnic identity. In addition, the Csatka pilgrimage is a good illustration of the challenges facing the Catholic Church in the field of Roma pastoral care