Nation-Building and Contested Identities - MEK

The Idea of the “Nation” in Transylvanismasked him to define “national consciousness,” he blamed him for “wantingto know what he does not feel. There are things that cannot beexplained to somebody who does not feel them.” 9 It is the feelings thatderive from the nationhood, understood as “duty,” that make the essentialdifference: “The message of my argument is that belonging to the‘group’ for us is not a ‘biological fact,’ but instead, it is a task, that is,moral, spiritual meaning, which is made significant not only by interests,but by feelings independent of interests.” 102.3 CULTURAL NATION – POLITICAL FRAMEWORKThe cultural definition of nation, untouched by state-borders or daily politicalrealities, is by no means seen as self-sufficient. The attribution of a politicalframework to the cultural community is considered to be necessary. Oneof the journalists of the Pásztortûz (probably Reményik himself) notes:The nation is the carrier of gigantic and deep spiritual values, their consciousmirror, the performer of extraordinary spiritual unity. The politicalframework is the external guarantee of these. It may be wrong; buta necessary wrong. Because, if the hard crust of the tree had been brokendown, the living flesh and the blossoming moisture is also in danger. 11Again, the rhetoric device used in shaping the discourse is very important.The metaphor equating the nation with a tree has several implications on theconcept of the nation itself. First of all, it presents the nation as a living naturalentity. It stresses the necessity of its existence on the one hand, and thatit is an identifiable unit, on the other. It also equates the “inside” of the tree,the essence, with what is central in the existence of a nation, the culturalcommunity of shared values, the moisture that brings about the “blossoming.”The “political nation” or the state is equated to the crust of the tree,having the function of protecting the inside, living part from outside attacks.It is obvious that in this set of ideas the condition of the Hungarians inRomania can only be considered as vulnerable, sick, and lacking in the mostelementary provisions for security, as a tree lacking its bark.2.4 THE NATURE OF NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESSThere are not many attempts at assessing the specific nature of national consciousness.Most of the Transylvanist authors only discuss the relationshipbetween individual, class and national identity. There are, however, twoimportant stances with respect to the nature of national consciousness putforward by two prominent Transylvanist authors, Sándor Reményik and,45