Hungary & National Identity

It is impossible to define a whole people based solely on their borders, their language, or their race. Yet, those are the leading factors that come to mind when attempting to construct a definition of National Identity. The idea of a national identity is still so new, seeing as the notion could only have developed during the industrial revolution. Urbanization, mass communication, total war, and the decline of the church are factors that lead to the creation of a national identity. (NYT, 2018) A modernist definition of national identity would attribute it mostly to a shared culture. When people come with “pre-requisite” knowledge that lets them buy into the same national story as those around them, they can easily incorporate the idea of a made-up community into their personal identity. (Then & Now, 2018) A shared mythos allows for a large group of people to buy into a common narrative that they can point to. It’s the weight of this myth that grounds a country in its identity. 

A shared piece of culture can take many forms. National heroes that are revered throughout a land, or the story of a revolution that brought many groups of people together under the same goal. It could also take the form of something as simple as a genre of music. Hungary in particular has been using music as a part of their national identity since the late 19th century. [source] During the first Hungarian revolution, there was a fear that Hungarian culture could go extinct, and there was a major push for artists and composers to record and preserve what they could. Béla Bartok was one such composer. During the early to mid 20th century, Bartók sought to study and preserve the music of Hungarian peasants. He studied a style of music called verbunkos, a popular dance genre that would often be heard in cafes or on public streets. (Schneider, 2006) Prior to the work of composers like Bartók and others, there was little documentation of this aspect of Hungarian culture. Now, the history and influence of the verbunkos style is seen as integral to Hungarian music and the culture of the nation at large. 

The verbunkos style is the use of a pair of sections of music. A slower section with a dotted rhythm, called a lassú, is paired with a faster section characterized by a quick running-note section, called a friss. (Verbunkos, 2020) This dynamic form of dance song was derived from the accompaniment to many Gypsie dance pieces. The name of the style, verbunkos is derived from the German verb, werben, meaning “to recruit.” (Lexico, 2020) The dances were often played while recruiting for the army of the Habsburg Emperors. Hussars, military leaders, would perform lively and energetic dances with their lower officers in supporting roles. This theatrical strategy of recruitment became a signature of the Hungarian army. 

It is thus interesting to note that this style of music, which has such a nationalist history, was not developed in a vacuum. The style of verbunkos finds its roots in the performances of Gypsie dances. It is now widely acknowledged that the origins of this style should be attributed to the Romani people. It makes sense that there would be a lot of cultural influence moving from Romania to Hungary, and vice versa, seeing as the two share the majority of Hungary’s eastern border.  

This leads us to the other vital aspect of a National Identity. A shared history, culture, and narrative all do well to establish a national mythos, but what gives weight to that myth is the authentication of that identity. The easiest way for a culture to authenticate its narrative is by proving its own uniqueness. By proving that this mythos could only ever possibly belong to its own people. And the way to ensure this illusion of uniqueness is by the use of Othering. 

Triandafyllidou describes this phenomenon as the relationship a nation has to its “significant others,” the groups, tribe, or nation one can point to and confidently say, “We are not them.” By doing so, a nation can firmly distinguish itself from others. (Triandafyllidou, 1998)

In recent history, Hungary’s government has been working to maintain its national identity by excluding those who fail to play into the national mythos. When the communist regime took over in 1947, the government criminalized migration. While 200,000 fled the country during the uprising against the communist government, less than two hundred chose to return, even when offered amnesty. The next big migrational movement wouldn’t happen until the late 1980s, when nearly 80,000 Romanian citizens of ethnically Hungarian descent were fleeing the Ceausescu regime. The government felt a priority to help this group, establishing large scale emergency hospitals and relief services in Budapest. (Goździak, 2019) However, this compassionate response from the Hungarian government seems exclusive to immigrants of Hungarian descent.

In 1967 Hungary became a party to the Refugee Convention, signalling that Hungary was willing to accept the international definition of refugee: “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” (UNHCR, 1951) This would imply a responsibility to shelter all who come to Hungary’s borders and meet that definition. However, there is evidence that refugees of Hungarian descent are being prioritized. In the 80s and 90s, ethnic Hungarians seeking refuge were not only channeled into the refugee system, but were also made eligible for citizenship within one year. In stark contrast, others who sought refuge were mainly given a temporary protection status. (Goździak, 2019)

The current Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, has taken a firm anti-immigration stance. In 2016, he pushed for a bill that he claimed “reflected the will of the people.” The bill, which would prevent the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary, was only supported by 39% of Hungarian voters. The Orbán government has routinely strengthened its borders in a blatantly xenophobic campaign. (Goździak, 2019)

In a previous blog post, I had mentioned that more than 80% of Hungary’s population is ethically Hungarian. (CIA, 2021) As I’ve shown here, this can unfortunately can be attributed to the xenophobic, anti-immigrant stance the government has taken in one form or another since the mid 20th century. The rise of right-wing politics in recent history has led to a rise in racism and islamophobia in Hungary.

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Works Referenced 

Anna Triandafyllidou. (1998). National identity and the 'other'. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21, 543-612.
Goździak, E. M. (2019). Using fear of the “Other,” orbán reshapes migration policy in a hungary built on cultural diversity. Retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/orb%C3%A1n-reshapes-migration-policy-hungary
Fisher, M., Keller, J., & Ryan, M. (Producers), & . (2018, -02-28). How nations make up national identities | NYT - the interpreter. [Video/DVD] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9qF6FvwrHI&ab_channel=TheNewYorkTimes
Hungary - the world factbook. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/hungary/
LOYA, S. (2016). Recomposing national identity; four transcultural readings of liszt’s marche hongroise d’après schubert. Journal of the American Musicological Society, 69(2), 409-476. doi:10.2307/26417256
Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for.Convention and protocol relating to the status of refugees. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/protection/basic/3b66c2aa10/convention-protocol-relating-status-refugees.html
Schneider, D. E. (2006). Bartok, hungary, and the renewal of tradition : Case studies in the intersection of modernity and nationality. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley, CA : University of California Press.
Theories of nationalism and national identity: An introduction. . (2018, -07-28).[Video/DVD] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwv9XjTZh2c&ab_channel=Then%26Now
Verbunkos. (2020). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Verbunkos&oldid=980141542
Verbunkos | definition of verbunkos by oxford dictionary on lexico.com also meaning of verbunkos. Retrieved from https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/verbunkos