Abstract This study examines the interplay between the biographies and iconographies of Jan Sarkander and St. John of Nepomuk in the early modern period, highlighting how they influence each other's appearance and veneration. The analysis reveals that a depiction in an altarpiece in Bratislava originally representing Sarkander was misidentified as St. John of Nepomuk due to contextual elements rather than explicit inscriptions. Furthermore, the study discusses how the pictorial compilations were shaped by the donators' or publishers' needs or the practicality.

Abstract One of the 17th-century manuscripts of the Franciscan order in Hungary contains a hitherto unrecorded census, as evidenced by both Hungarian and European book sources: this is the list of the books of the Marian Province (Provincia Sanctae Mariae). In 1647, when the catalogue was compiled, there were already 19 convents in the diocese. These were the convents that were able to submit their books at the request of the provincial. The catalogue, which comprises almost 500 items, is of particular significance as it is the only inventory of the library of any Marian convent from this period that has survived. The 1647 book catalogue is of significant interest as it provides a comprehensive overview of the book supply of the members of the Order, the potential reading material, and the spirit of the collection. It is therefore considered to be one of the fundamental documents of the period in terms of literacy.

Abstract The study examines the critical reception of Josef Bayer's ballets Die Puppenfee [The Fairy Doll] and Sonne und Erde [Sun and Earth], focusing on their premieres in Vienna and Budapest. In the late 19th century, the German-language press in Budapest delivered scathing reviews of Die Puppenfee, drawing parallels with Handel's contemporary criticisms, which condemned the prevalence of dull works and fairy-tale productions on the stage. Despite these critiques, the ballet was far from dismissed, as Die Puppenfee was performed over 800 times in Vienna until 1999. However, music critics, while not entirely ignoring the ballet, remained distant towards the genre. Eduard Hanslick provided a possible explanation for this, asserting that in the reception of musical works—an idea applicable to ballet as well—the aesthetic aspect is merely one factor, and often not the most significant: the success of a work often lies in how it reflects the spirit of the times. The study further explores the contrasting ballet critiques in the Viennese and Budapest press, highlighting the visual-centric nature of Hungarian ballet and the lack of literary-driven, high aesthetic quality librettos that could inspire more sophisticated ballet music.

Abstract The process of language teaching is intricately entwined with the concepts of culture, language, and lifestyle, which collectively shape one's identity. Language textbooks, functioning as conduits for cultural transmission, inherently communicate the distinctive aspects of identity associated with a specific nation. While theoretical frameworks in foreign language education underscore the critical role of culture and identity, practical implementation often falls short (cf. Norton, 2013; Liddicoat and Scarino, 2013). Despite extensive research exploring the cultural dimensions of language teaching, there remains a shortage of studies focusing on cultural activities and intercultural competence among learners of Hungarian as a foreign language (Árvay, 2015; Holló, 2008).This research aims to scrutinize the cultural aspects embedded within the MagyarOK textbook series, tailored for beginners engaged in the language teaching process of Hungarian as a foreign language. The analysis involved predefined variables, evaluating the content in terms of chapters, with a specific focus on the incorporation of personal names related to Hungarian and foreign cultures. Additionally, the study examined the representation of Hungarian and foreign culture-related features, including languages, nationalities, cities, and countries throughout the textbooks. The findings shed light on how these elements within the textbook series provide valuable insights into Hungarian culture and facilitate language learners' cultural immersion, fostering the development of their language acquisition and intercultural communication skills.

Abstract In my study, I explore representations of otherness and alienation in the Athena Club trilogy by Theodora Goss, a Hungarian-born writer currently living and working in the United States. In the first part of the analysis, I focus on the relationship between female identity and monstrosity. I argue that monstrosity in Goss' novels can be seen in the deconstruction of traditional nineteenth-century female roles. Hence, the female monsters of the Athena Club can be interpreted as a metaphor for self-realization and a representation of otherness. In the second part of the analysis, I will examine the experience of alienation from the perspective of the protagonist (Mary), along the opposition of home and abroad. I will point out that the experience of the new cultural environment, and more specifically the positive experience with Hungarian cultural realities, means the final elimination of the experience of alienation.

Abstract The paper analyzes some early theoretical works on psychology of language presented in the works of the trend setting historical linguist Zoltán Gombocz (1887–1935), Antal Klemm (1883–1963) a master of historical syntax, and Gyula Lux (1884–1957) a successful language education expert.All three were representatives of classical mentalistic linguistics, and interpreted language as relevant for psychology, even if they emphasized change instead of structure. The paper presents the specific ideas of Klemm regarding the historical articulation of sentence structure along psychological and logical lines. Both Gombocz and Lux follow Wundt that we must draw evidence from gestural language for the origin of spoken language. Gombocz and Klemm deal with the possible mechanisms of word class formation. Klemm's reconstruction of word classes takes communication as a starting point. Initial communication is about an object given as a non-linguistic stimulus: [this thing] apple. The (psychological) subject is given, only the predicate is pronounced. This would be followed by combining two nominal words in a predicative way: wood-fire. Then the property words would appear, and finally the combination of object and property (apple-red).

Abstract Gian Michele Bruto (Brutus) (1517–1592) wrote his monumental history of Hungary from 1574 until his death. The Rerum Ungaricarum libri was the story of Hungary's decline and fall in the 16th century, written in a single narrative. According to the plans of its original commissioner, the Transylvanian prince and Polish king Stephen Báthory (1571/76–1586), it was meant to provide a political counterweight to the narrative of the court of Vienna and to represent an independent, constitutional Hungary to the European public. Although a version of the work had certainly been completed by 1584, it was not published during Báthory's lifetime. In 1587, Brutus first entered into Habsburg service, then at the end of 1591, having been informed his work was to be published there, he travelled to Transylvania. He died in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia, RO) in May 1592. The Transylvanian court was still planning to publish the work in the 1590s: the Transylvanian historiographer István Szamosközy (1570–1612) brought Brutus' manuscripts into a publishable condition and also wrote a continuation of it (Rerum Ungaricarum libri IV) – but this publication was never realised either.The first edition of the work appeared in print only in the 19th century in the series Monumenta Hungariae Historica Scriptores. The text of that edition was edited by Ferenc Toldy (1805–1875) on the basis of two highly damaged and mutilated 16th-century manuscripts and contained not quite thirteen books of the original work.In 2020 an almost complete manuscript of twenty books (fully annotated by the author himself) was discovered in the Diocesean Library, Trent. The philological analysis of the three separate manuscripts now available has allowed four different editing stages to be distinguished, three of which are attributed to Brutus and the fourth to István Szamosközy. In addition to a philological comparison of the manuscripts, this article traces the fascinating history of the Rerum Ungaricarum libri in its political and literary context.

Abstract In this paper I focus my attention on the debate between three renowned Germanists of the interwar period: Elemér Moór, Elemér Schwartz and Walter Steinhauser. Their discussion of the population history of Burgenland can serve as a case study of knowledge production. This was a discourse in which the relationship between science and politics or the boundary between scholarship and dilettantism were often tested. Relying on both published material (their books and papers) and unpublished sources (correspondence, commission reports) I analyse the different standpoints of the three scholars and show the development of their rivalry. At the end of my paper, I will draw some lessons concerning the history of historical writing.

Abstract In his slightly fictionalized autobiographical essay A Drunken November Night 1918 (written in 1942, first published in 1952), Miroslav Krleža attempts to reconstruct a scandal to whose creation he himself contributed to a large extent. In November 1918, in the interregnum from the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy to the foundation of the South Slav kingdom, the then young author felt compelled at a reception held in Zagreb in honor of the Serbian officers to protest loudly against the speech of the former high Habsburg officer Slavko Kvaternik. The scandal retrospectively reinforced Krleža's conviction of the misery of the contemporary Croatian elite, a circumstance whose reasons, in his opinion, lay not only in political opportunism and moral corruption, but also in unreflected utopianism and the underlying political naivety. His hope that after the dissolution of the compromised Habsburg rule the South Slav peoples could advance towards national and social emancipation was soon replaced by the sober insight that imperial Austro-Hungary was followed by a small-sized, Serb dominated post-imperial structure. By describing the period when the text was written, the Second World War and the Ustashe reign of terror in contemporary Croatia, and in doing so particularly referring to the conversion of many former Habsburg officers to the side of fascist movements, Krleža also emphatically reveals his own conception of history, according to which historical events appear to be an eternal recurrence in which human stupidity is coupled with an excessive use of power and violence.

Abstract Originally a small market town in Northern Hungary, Sárospatak (Patak) deserves attention for more than just the role it played in a series of historical events that were to define the future of this country throughout the 17th–18th centuries. The cultural, educational and musical legacy of the period is also outstanding, and the functioning of the Patak College (Pataki Kollégium), which soon gained considerable prestige, played a key part in this. The aim of this paper is to present the musical aspects of this most valuable set of interconnected cultural assets.