Nation-Building and Contested Identities - MEK

KINGA-KORETTA SATAeverybody who is ready to adopt the cultural values seen as characteristicto it. As Reményik puts it:Hungarianness is not only blood relation, not only race, not even onlylanguage; Hungarianness is more than all these: it is soul, life, mysteriousand wonderful historical community, past, tradition, spirituality, mentality.This is Hungarianness. The one who can adapt himself to this is Hungarian,who cannot, is a stranger. 4The attributes of nationhood thus defined are conceived of as “the mysticand sublime furnace of history, which melted different races together intoone nation, one mentality, one soul in the flames of common struggles andcommon sufferings.” 5 When discussing the examples of historical figureswho were not ethnic Hungarians, but who were assimilated to the Hungariannation and became prominent Hungarians (such as Sándor Petõfi andLajos Kossuth), Reményik declares that “the fact that the Hungarian racecould attract foreign elements and turn them into Hungarians to sucha degree, only proves its value, strength, and viability.” 62.2 DUTIES DERIVING FROM BEING PARTOFTHENATIONAnother aspect of the definition of the nation is the emphasis put on theduties deriving from the belonging to a nation, in this specific case, frombeing a Hungarian. Reményik, for example, quotes the Calvinist churchmanand theologian László Ravasz, who declared that: “To be Hungarianis neither shame, nor glory, but a task.” 7 In his interpretation, this meansthat “it is not to be born a Hungarian that is a glory, but sharing in theHungarian spirituality, being absorbed in it, developing it further, workingon it, not in the spirit of subversion but in that of understanding, rescuingand organic building: this is the glory.” 8 Reményik contrasts his interpretationof nationhood to the claim that being Hungarian is a “biologicalfact.” For him, belonging to the Hungarian nation (to any nation in fact)is a moral problem with basic implications to the individual life-strategiesof its members.It is important to note that the Transylvanist concept of the nationlacks connotations to the criteria of racial community. Instead, itassigned the most prominent place to cultural and historical attributes.Nevertheless, the attributes and differentiating elements of nationhoodare not thoroughly defined; it is impossible to delimit a group on thebasis of these criteria. The most Reményik can tell about what it is to bea Hungarian is that it is ultimately a matter of faith: if one does not feelit, there is no way to explain it. Speaking about one of his opponents who44