Nation-Building and Contested Identities: Romanian & Hungarian ...

The Idea of the “Nation” in Transylvanismsoul and, of Transylvanian culture is not conducive to a separation fromHungarian culture or from Hungarianness. Most Transylvanist authors arekeen on safeguarding the unity of Hungariandom and Hungarian cultureagainst any views that would regard Transylvanians as a distinct nation, orthe Transylvanian culture as being distinct from Hungarian culture. A contemporaryliterary history of Hungarians in Transylvania is described inthe following manner: “The introductory chapter is a sound, exhortingword ... against that mistaken and dangerous concept which announced anindependent Transylvanian literature, torn away from the body of unitaryHungarian culture.” 27It is this claimed unity of Hungarian culture and nation that makesthe literary historian, György Kristóf, advocate the idea that the term“Transylvanian” itself should be replaced by “from Romania” in order toavoid the possible connotation of the existence of Transylvania as a separatepolitical or cultural unit:Speaking about spiritual life, Kristóf changes the “Transylvanian” attributeto “from Romania.” From now on, we should speak of Hungarian literaturein Romania instead of Transylvanian literature. Let’s not thinkabout the fate of the Hungarian culture in Transylvania, but about organizingthe Hungarian spiritual life in Romania. 28Nevertheless, considering the Transylvanian identity as being distinct fromthe general Hungarian one was a common argument. What is disputed isactually the extent of the distinctiveness. It is hard to find authors voicinga belief in a separate and distinct Hungarian culture, but there is a greatvariety of ideas concerning the extent and the exact nature of separateness.Some distinctiveness is, nevertheless, always acknowledged. Statements,such as “it is not a specifically Transylvanian, but a generally Hungariannovel” 29 (as Gyula Walter characterizes one of Gulácsy’s novels), are commonand single out the belief that there is an identifiable degree of Transylvanianseparateness and distinctiveness.2.7 ROMANIANS VERSUS HUNGARIANSThe general pattern of speaking about the Hungarian-Romanian relationshipis shaped by the Hungarian viewpoint that often claimed that the conflictwas not predetermined, but due to historic misgivings and injustices.This type of argument is based on the idea that Hungarians and Romanianswere not historically related, but that their relationship and thenecessity of confronting each other is the outcome of the change in powerat the end of World War I. As István Pálos puts it:51