Internationale Kulturwissenschaften International Cultural Studies Etudes culturelles internationales
Sektion X:		Mehrsprachigkeit: Regionen, "Nationen", Multikulturalität, Interkulturalität, Transkulturalität
Section X:		Multilingualism: Regions, "Nations", Multiculturalism, Interculturalism and Transculturalism
Section X:		Plurilinguisme: régions, "nations", multiculturalité, interculturalité, transculturalité

Eszter Szilassy (Budapest)

Cultural assimilation and minority identity of ethnic and national minorities in Hungary

Abstract(1)

During the years 1997-98 a comprehensive study(2) was conducted among members of the opinion-making personalities of the 13 registered ethnic and national minorities of Hungary(3). According to the researchers this group consists of the dominant figures in cultural life, political representation, civil organizations and the media. Research by means of in-depth interviews attempted to throw light on various aspects concerning minority status in contemporary Hungarian society that affect minorities not only as individuals, but also as groups in many respects. The research focused on the struggle against assimilation, which includes maintaining the minority language and culture, preserving a national identity, realizing political representation and organizing the group as an entity. Thus the main objective of the research was to reveal causal links pertaining to the problem of assimilation among the national minorities of Hungary today.

Based on the content analysis of the interviews and the classification of the opinions, we received a large-scale, comprehensive overview of the social, political and cultural aspects of minority life. Following the examination of almost 100 in-depth interviews we find issues that are specific to a single minority, as well as problems affecting minorities generally. In the essay, we attempt comparing minorities at every topic that occurred, we tried, however, to avoid using rigid categorization.

From the study it became clear that assimilation does not only mean a change in language usage, a re-evaluation of culture and tradition, but it also impacts on several aspects of the co-existence of minorities and the majority society, as regards minority education, the media and political representation of minorities. Moreover, it determines the development of the relationship with the country of origin as well.

In the case of our interviewees we cannot talk about a stable minority identity independent of reference systems. We must note that, in the case of ethnic and national minorities in Hungary, we describe a changing situation and consciousness, in which the social environment and the forces determining them are also transforming.

We found issues concerned with identity that are relevant for every minority group, while others occurred in a different way in case of each minority. However, acknowledging the fact that groups with specific problems need specific solutions to these problems, the challenges still remain within the general field of minority education, political representation and the mass media.

As regards the topics discussed in the essay, we find significant differences between larger and smaller minorities. Corresponding to our hypothesis, we found the problems of the Roma minority to be more far-reaching than the struggle against assimilation and the preservation of a minority identity, as they are combined with issues of social integration. Minorities having strong roots in Hungary or a relatively larger membership , for example: Gypsies, Germans, Croats, Slovaks, Romanians and Serbs, seem to be more dissatisfied in answer to all the questions that were raised by our research. They had higher expectations toward the majority population than smaller minorities or groups without deep roots here, such as Greeks, Bulgarians, Slovenes, Armenians, Poles, Ukrainians and Ruthenians. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that a group which has historical roots finds it more difficult to accept that assimilation is at an advanced stage, and its consequences include the diminishing role of theminority language and culture, possible intolerance and discrimination by the majority than a group with only a recent history would do. By their dissatisfaction, these larger groups also point out that the majority must take responsibility for its minorities, including the consequences of the minority policies of previous regimes. Thus, the responsibility of the majority should include accountability. Even if these 'large' groups are no longer able to collect a sufficient number of children in a settlement to allow them to start a minority class with the protection of the law. It is because of decreasing numbers that the majority does not always take the these recurring demands seriously, although, precisely because the numbers are so low, the majority should pay special attention to issues concerning minorities.

The different evaluation of the situation, the different ways of problematization by small and large minorities and the Romas seemed to be quite stable regardless the complexity of some of the issues. These issues are made so complex by the influence of the regulation acknowledging the existence of minorities as opposed to previous assimilation policies, the possibility of groups to organize themselves, the introduction minority education in the mother tongue, the practice of folk culture and traditions, the public use of their language, etc.. Therefore, to some extent the majority's responsibility has been identified following recent political changes in Hungary, but the uniform treatment of various problems suggests a lack of sensitivity toward the everyday life of minorities. General dissatisfaction can be thus found, for example, concerning the insensitive realization of valuable initiatives. The lives of minorities are determined by conditions other than the legal ones.

In the Hungary of today, the struggle against the linguistic shift and assimilation, the preservation of minority culture have all become concepts synonymous with minority identity in case of all the minorities excepting the Gypsies. We have found a wide variety of opinions ranging from optimism to tragic predictions. However, they all included the thought of losing the mother tongue of the group and their culture. The main question raised in the survey was about the kind of future in Hungary faced by both those groups struggling to preserve their culture, language and identity, but which are, nonetheless, perfectly integrated and those groups still struggling to integrate.

Conflicts and tension should only be mentioned in connection with Gypsies, as the majority society has become more and more hostile and discriminatory toward them since the transition, making the integration of this group into the majority society practically impossible. Contrary to this, the majority's increasingly open-minded and tolerant attitude has contributed tremendously to the strengthening of minority identities, as prior to the changes it was the largely the negative attitude of society at large that discouraged the expression or adoption of an explicit minority identity. We can argue that today in Hungary, apart from the attitudes limiting the role of the Roma minority, there are no real conflicts between the minorities and regulations affecting minorities, but there are problems concerning assimilation and political representation. From our research we conclude that solutions should emanate from a greater sensitivity to the realities of minority life and greater attention paid to minorities.

It is our wish that this comprehensive study conducted among members of the minority elite with the help of interviews can contribute toward diminishing the uniform perspective on minorities and to creating a more differentiated image in the field of culture and politics. We also hope that this essay can point out the ways in which people personally involved in minority issues perceive problems of minority life, duties of both minorities and the majority. In this way minorities can be preserved.

We are not keen to make predictions about the future of minorities, however, we would like to note that minorities in Hungary, from the viewpoint of existence, are in some respects in a more favorable situation than minorities in the neighboring Central-European countries than in others. Apart from the Gypsies, these groups are small in number, and live in geographically segmented areas. They are increasingly urbanized and thus at an advanced stage of assimilation. For these reasons, the situation cannot be compared, for example, with the case of Hungarians outside Hungary who assimilate at a slower pace because of their greater numbers and their geographical concentration. However, the situation of minorities can also not be compared to minorities in the former Yugoslavia for example, where ethnic groups who had been living together more or less peacefully became enemies in war since the 1990s, as a result of political and ethnic conflicts. Minorities today see their lives and homes threatened.

Finally, in summarary, we would like to emphasize that our intention was to create a comprehensive image of those complicatedly intertwined phenomena that best characterize the life of minorities in Hungary today. Therefore, our minority elite research points further than a mere survey of elite groups. It is possible to separately identify and analyze the issues described in the research, as long as we bear in mind that they have a combined affect on the preservation of minorities, the quality of life of members of these groups, the relationship between the generations, the integration into the majority society and assimilation. Therefore, the attempt to create many and clearly outlined images of the effects of these problems is both the weakness and strength of our research. The issues at hand was too large and complex for us to deal with them in their entirity, the limits defined by time and financial situation did not allow us to delve into all the relevant topics. On the one hand, this preliminary exploration of the problems raised by our research aims at facilitating projects analyzing specific areas of minority issues. On the other hand, it can serve as feedback to the dedicated members of minorities, as well as information on the complexity of opinions and solutions to a Hungarian society that feels responsibility for minorities living within its territory and understands that minority cultures and languages are inherent parts of the culture of Hungary.

NOTES

1	The abstract of the study to be presented here is a revised version of the paper published in Hungarian: Kende - Konsztandinidisz - Szilassy, Asszimiláció és kisebbségi identitás (Assimilation and minority identity) In: Jelkép 1999/2 pp. 79-92.
2	The current study was based on the research supported by the Ministry of Culture and Education as well as the Dialogue Foundation (Párbeszéd Program Alapitvány) and carried out under the auspices of ELTE Minority Studies program. Apart from thanking these institutes I would like to acknowledge the methodological advice of Péter Radó, and the support of the initiative of this study of Antal Örkény.
3	See the Law on the Rights of Ethnic and National Minorities, 1993. LXXVII.

		Internationale Kulturwissenschaften International Cultural Studies Etudes culturelles internationales
Sektion X:		Mehrsprachigkeit: Regionen, "Nationen", Multikulturalität, Interkulturalität, Transkulturalität
Section X:		Multilingualism: Regions, "Nations", Multiculturalism, Interculturalism and Transculturalism
Section X:		Plurilinguisme: régions, "nations", multiculturalité, interculturalité, transculturalité