Tangible Belonging Negotiating Germanness in Twentieth-Century Hungary
The chapters reveal the experiences of Hungarian Germans through the First World War and the subsequent dissolution of Austria-Hungary; the treatment of the German minority in the newly independent Hungarian Kingdom; the rise of the racial Volksdeutsche movement and Nazi influence before and during the Second World War; the immediate aftermath of the war and the expulsions; the suppression of German identity in Hungary during the Cold War; and the fall of Communism and reinstatement of minority rights in 1993.
Throughout, Swanson offers colorful oral histories from residents of the rural Swabian villages to supplement his extensive archival research. As he shows, the definition of being a German in Hungary varies over time and according to individual interpretation, and does not delineate a single national identity. What it meant to be German was continually in flux. In Swanson's broader perspective, defining German identity is ultimately a complex act of cognition reinforced by the tangible environment of objects, activities, and beings. As such, it endures in individual and collective mentalities despite the vicissitudes of time, history, language, and politics.
Publisher Name | University of Pittsburgh Press |
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Author Name | Hagendorf, Col |
Format | Audio |
Bisac Subject Major | HIS |
Language | NG |
Isbn 10 | 0822964295 |
Isbn 13 | 9780822964292 |
Target Age Group | min:NA, max:NA |
Series | 000167806 |
Dimensions | 00.89" H x 00.06" L x 00.00" W |
Page Count | 464 |
John C. Swanson is professor and department head of history at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is the author of The Remnants of the Habsburg Monarchy: The Shaping of Modern Austria and Hungary, 1918-1922.