Maďarská menšina na Slovensku. Pokus o aplikaci vybraných teorií nacionalismu

Pavel Dufek

Maďarská menšina na Slovensku. Pokus o aplikaci vybraných teorií nacionalismu

Roč.4,č.2–3(2002)

RTF HTML

The article below is intended as an examination of three recent theories of nationalism. The works of Jack Snyder, Rogers Brubaker and Pavel Barsa all go against the long dominating current of research in this area (and consequently against widespread popular beliefs), personified above all by Samuel Huntington and his book on the “clash of civilisations”. Such “traditional” theories treat the existence of nationalism as a foremostly historical legacy: Bitter memories of the past (unjustice, occupation etc.) together with a distinct character of various societies (or nations) are supposed to have constituted latent patterns of nationalistic animosities (the authors call them “ancient hatreds”). This “sleeping” form of nationalism is then considered to be the main cause of nationalistic outbursts, which may even end up in brutal ethnic cleansing (such was the case of former Yugoslavia or the Tutsi-Hutu massacre in Rwanda). The proposed theories, which we might call “constructivist”, deny that nationalism is a substantive phenomenon, stemming remedilessly from the very essence of the nation. According to Snyder, elite persuasion and manipulation applied during the process of democratization (i.e. as masses are given the oportunity to participate in power) are the key causes of nationalistic moods. There is a number of conditions that might limit the elite’s “pulling of the strings" or that the elites have to calculate upon (such as the level of economic development, the character of the “marketplace of ideas” etc.), however the rationalist employment of the nationalistic ideas is a necessary condition of the “successful” emergence of nationalism. Brubaker even suggests we should abandon using the term “nation” (and much more carefully use “nationalism”) and favours other, less confusing terms such as “nationhood” or “nationess”. The central process in the emergence of nationalism, according to Brubaker, is the complex interrelated triadic interaction among the ethnic minority, the state it is encapsulated within and finally the minority’s “external homeland”. The major role in this process is again played by the political elites.
The case of Slovakia, one of the countries undergoing democratic transition, provides a good testing example because a strong Hungarian minority lives in the southern parts of the state. Governments led by V. Mečiar and affiliated state-owned media have intensively employed nationalistic rhetoric during the 90’s and the nationalist/ethnic line has become the dominating cleavage within the society. The article suggests that as for the case of Slovakia, the discussed “constructivist” theories of nationalism are basically right, although several facts do not completely fit into the picture.

Klíčová slova:
Slovakia; Nationalism; Hungarian Minority; Theories of Nationalism; Constructivism

Reference

: End of the Nightmare. Corvinus Library [of] Hungarian History.http://www.hungary.com/corvinus/lib/jani/jani21.htm; ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Barša, P. (1999): Národnostní konflikt a plurální identita. in Barša, P., Strmiska, M. (1999): Národní stát a etnický konflikt: politologická perspektiva. Brno, CDK
Benda, L. (1998): Systém politických stran v Maďarsku. in: Politologický časopis 4/1998, s. 366-391
Bremmer, I. (nedat.): Barcelona Report. Panel One: Slovakia/Czech Republic. http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/eurasia/barcel/panel1.html; ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Brubaker, R. (1997): Nationalism Reframed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Bútora, M. – Bútorová, Z. (1994): Slovensko rok po. Cesty a križovatky nového štátu očami jeho obyvateľov. Praha, SLON
Durman, K. (1998): Útěk od praporů. Praha, Karolinum
U.S. Department of the State (1998): The Slovak Republic Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997; http://internet.sk/sme-l/Report1997.html ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Hunčík, P. (1999): Maďarská menšina ve Slovenské republice. in: Gabal, I. a kol. (1999): Etnické menšiny ve střední Evropě: konflikt nebo integrace. Praha, G plus G
Kollár, M. – Mesežnikov, G. (2000): Slovensko 2000. Súhrnná správa o stave spoločnosti. Bratislava, Inštitút pre verejné otázky
Kopanic, M.J. (1999): A Brief Historical Background: Hungarians in Slovakia; http://www.ce-review.org/99/2/kopanic2_history.html; ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Kopeček, L. (1999): Specifika vývoje slovenského systému politických stran. in: Strmiska, M. (ed.): Postkomunistické stranické soustavy a politická pluralita. Brno, Mezinárodní politologický ústav
Krivý, V. (1999): Čo prezrádzajú volebné výsledky? Parlamentné voľby 1992-1998. Bratislava, Inštitút pre verejné otázky
Lebovič, P. (1999): Zápas o udržanie demokracie: politické súvislosti novelizácie volebného zákona. in: Bútora, M. – Mesežnikov, G. – Bútorová, Z. (eds.) (1999): Kto? Prečo? Jako? Slovenské voľby 1998. Bratislava, Inštitút pre verejné otázky
Machačka, J. – Macura, M. (nedat.): Univ. prof. Miroslav Hroch (rozhovor). in: Čelem vzad , http://celemvzad.all4u.cz/celemvzad/index2.php?hop=http://celemvzad.all4u.cz/celemvzad/clanek.php?cislo=9&autor=19; ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Morvay, P. (1999): Menšiny v Maďarsku a maďarská menšinová politika. in: Gabal, I. a kol. (1999): Etnické menšiny ve střední Evropě: konflikt nebo integrace. Praha, G plus G
Nationalist Myths Live On. Corvinus Library [of] Hungarian History http://www.hungary.com/corvinus/lib/jani/jani22.htm; ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Sándor, E. (1999): Politické strany maďarskej národnostnej menšiny vo voľbách 1998. in: Bútora, M. – Mesežnikov, G. – Bútorová, Z. (eds.) (1999): Kto? Prečo? Jako? Slovenské voľby 1998. Bratislava, Inštitút pre verejné otázky
Sedláčik, Ľ. (12.9. 2000): Maďarská karta je již tvrdší betonu. http://pes.internet.cz/clanky/5871.html; ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Shafir, M. a kol. (nedat): Making Slovakia More ‚Slovak‘. http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/langid2.html
Snyder, J. (2001): From Voting to Violence. NewYork-London, W.W. Norton & Copany
Školkay, A. (1998): Súvislosti medzi rozvojom médií a reklamného trhu na Slovensku. in: Otázky žurnalistiky 4/1998, s. 273-281. http://www.elis.sk/zurnal/full/oz0498d.pdf; ověřeno k 2.5.2002
Školkay, A.(1999): Médiá a politická komunikácia v predvolebnej a volebnej kampani. in: Bútora – Mesežnikov – Bútorová (eds.) (1999)

Metriky

885

Views

132

RTF views

219

HTML views

Tato práce je licencována pod Mezinárodní licencí Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 .

RTF HTML