The Canadian-American Review of Hungarian Studies - Vol. 4 ... - EPA

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talent enables Wass to depict the sufferings of his people in a mannerpalatable even to non-Hungarians.Wass's new book. Sword and Sickle, is an historical novel. Part 1 is achronicle, not only of a family, but also of the Hungarian nationthrough nine hundred years. The author's breadth of knowledge isrevealed by his description of a people's evolution, spirit and traditions.The second part is a description of the modern age, the era of the SecondWorld War. It is not a dull report on the politics and diplomacy of theday, but a lively, touching story of a people, the Hungarians of Transylvania.It carries the reader with the story and makes him share thejoys,grief and cares of the novel's heroes. The author's message is clear. It iswrong to place the burden of guilt for the Hungarians' misfortunes onscapegoats such as the "aristocracy" or the "clergy". Hungarians werecollectively responsible for the tragedy that overtook them, and they allmust individually bear the burden of that responsibility.The sword and the sickle are symbols. The former is indispensable inthe conquest of the homeland and its defence against external foes. Butone can retain the homeland only with the sickle, the plow: through thecultivation of the soil, through backbreaking and honest toil.Wass has received many literary honours, but he has not stoppedwriting. He has now presented us with a unique book which combinesjoy and sadness, encouragement and warning. This is a work of eternalvalidity, for today's man, who has conquered space but keeps stumblingon earth, needs moral guidance. After readingthis book the despondentwill raise his head, the sad will smile, and those who had lost hope willdiscover light in the seemingly dark future. What more can a writer offerto his readers?HollandErzsebet KisjokaiQuest for a New Central Europe: A Symposium. Edited by JuliusVarsanyi. Adelaide - Sydney: Australian Carpathian Federation, 1976.295 pp. ISBN 0 9597246 0 3.In his introduction to the work. Dr. Varsanyi describes its purpose inthe following terms:This is not an attempt to pass moral judgements on a particularpolitical reality, but rather, a scrutiny of its underlying facts andsuperimposed features, in an attempt to determine the degree ofvalidity of this reality, and the viability of an alternative form ofregional arrangement.
The alternative proposed is regional integration in East CentralEurope, defined as "all the countries . . . situated between the twoGerman states and the Soviet Union: Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,Hungary, Poland, Rumania, and Yugoslavia." This integrationis to be accomplished through the guaranteed neutralization of the areaand its voluntary participation in the proposed regional structure.As several of the contributors point out, the idea of some regionalarrangement in the Danubian area is not a new one. The individualarticles are designed to show that no insuperable obstacles of a geographic,historical, economic, or legal nature exist to prevent some formof integration. The ethnic diversity problem is recognized and dealt withat some length. Various practical and legal solutions are proposed todeal with this internal problem.It is in the area of external political relations that problems arise. Theonly article specifically labeled "political" deals with Austrian neutrality.Dr. Felix Ermacora, Austrian legal specialist and member of theAustrian Parliament, describes in some detail the practices and policiesof his country's internationally recognized neutrality. In concluding hisarticle, Ermacora indicates that permanent neutrality is only effective"if it is in the framework of the big powers of the region" and "if itsactivities are generally recognized at least by the states of the respectiveregion." He also points out that the hegemonial power in the area wouldhave to acquiesce in the neutralization process.It is this practical political consideration which creates difficulty. TheSoviet Union is not likely to acquiesce in any arrangement which wouldleave a divided Germany on the far side of a belt of neutralized states.Until some permanent resolution to the German problem is implemented(if then), the Soviet Union is unlikely to permit any CentralEuropean regroupment which would diminish its power position in thearea.Neither the Brezhnev Doctrine nor the Sonnenfeldt Doctrine offersmuch hope to believers in a neutralized Central European federation.Each doctrine envisions continued Russian involvement in the region.The recent elaboration of West European "Eurocommunism" by theSpanish, Italian, and French Communist parties adds a new complication.The doctrine appears to present a challenge to U.S. and Sovietpolitical interests throughout Europe. If the two major powers attemptto limit the political impact of the Eurocommunists, the result may wellbe a strengthening of the status quo in each half of Europe.The circumstances surrounding the book's publication are intriguing.The book, dealing with Central Europe, is published by the Australian
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Canadian-American Review of Hungari
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the best possible settlers who woul
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than a decade later they were follo
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Sociologists have yet to explain sa
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fifteen minutes, and spent the rest
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from the "Canadian poetry" of Icela
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garian community of Western Canada,
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lowed translations from other, more
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which took place in the pages of th
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from teaching in 1968, Kirkconnell
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Magyar poets and writers to the rea
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tive of his helpful attitude and un
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33. Kirkconnell, A Slice of Canada,
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The groaning of the slaves on Egypt
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ecause most such lines are imbedded
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;Two spheres contend with one anoth
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matched it to this feeble hurdy-gur
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NOTES1. The only full-length study
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terest in Hungarian literature, has
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limitations of Bowring and others:
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Jones' Five Hungarian WritersJ 4 Su
Page 53 and 54: REVIEW ARTICLEHungarian Poetry in E
Page 55 and 56: ooks written in English. A table of
Page 57 and 58: passive, or into noun phrases in En
Page 59 and 60: REVIEW ARTICLEHungarian Religious P
Page 61 and 62: magas és a mély magánhangzójú
Page 63 and 64: SPECIAL SECTIONToldiAn Epic Poem (1
Page 65 and 66: CANTO ONE"He lifted, with one hand,
Page 67 and 68: "Who should be squire of this whole
Page 69 and 70: What meant this hubbub in a widow's
Page 71 and 72: "Lad, here's your share! Don't say
Page 73 and 74: The heavy stone flies on: where wil
Page 75 and 76: The homes of moorhen, plover, gull
Page 77 and 78: Perhaps I'll shed my blood, some no
Page 79 and 80: CANTO FIVENicholas went wandering a
Page 81 and 82: Her tongue was like a coulter in th
Page 83 and 84: Rosemary pots mourned on its window
Page 85 and 86: Such were her words. No more would
Page 87 and 88: As if a nest of hornets rose to sti
Page 89 and 90: Upon an isle, by a Czech's hand the
Page 95 and 96: REVIEW ARTICLEQuo Vadis Transylvani
Page 97 and 98: Hungarians in Rumania in terms of t
Page 99 and 100: down by serious shortcomings in bot
Page 101 and 102: alanced presentation of the Vienna
Page 106 and 107: Carpathian Federation, and printed
Page 108 and 109: Now and then, however, this rule de
Page 110 and 111: temper such an indictment by recogn
Page 112 and 113: OUR CONTRIBUTORS (continued from pa
Page 115: TO THOSE WISHING TO SUBMIT MANUSCRI
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