‘Eurasian Magyars’: The Making of a New Hegemonic National Prehistory in Illiberal Hungary
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Katrin Kremmler
Abstract
The Hungarian government has created parallel illiberal science institutions producing a narrative of cultural-civilizational continuity of ‘historical Hungarian statehood’ with the Huns, Avars, and conquering Magyars. This has been done with claims of ‘scientific truth’ by palaeoanthropologists, archaeogeneticists, and archaeologists, in an illiberal project of “genetic ethnology” (McMahon 2020a). Events like Kurultáj, a biannual festival celebrating the unity of the heritage of Eurasian nomadic steppe peoples, have facilitated and encouraged this relationship between ‘science’ and claims to a Hungarian ancestral connection with the East. This chapter argues that what is happening in Hungary is an illiberal transformation of science and the humanities, one that requires greater interdisciplinary scrutiny.
Abstract
The Hungarian government has created parallel illiberal science institutions producing a narrative of cultural-civilizational continuity of ‘historical Hungarian statehood’ with the Huns, Avars, and conquering Magyars. This has been done with claims of ‘scientific truth’ by palaeoanthropologists, archaeogeneticists, and archaeologists, in an illiberal project of “genetic ethnology” (McMahon 2020a). Events like Kurultáj, a biannual festival celebrating the unity of the heritage of Eurasian nomadic steppe peoples, have facilitated and encouraged this relationship between ‘science’ and claims to a Hungarian ancestral connection with the East. This chapter argues that what is happening in Hungary is an illiberal transformation of science and the humanities, one that requires greater interdisciplinary scrutiny.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- List of Contributors IX
- Digging Politics: The Ancient Past and Contested Present 1
- Balkan Antiquity as Decolonial Eurocentrism During the Cold War 17
- Thracian Archaeology and National Identity in Communist Bulgaria: The Ideological Pattern of Museum Exhibitions 45
- Imagining King’s Landing: Dubrovnik, the Diegetic Heritage of Game of Thrones, and the Imperialism of Popular Culture 77
- Slavic Archaeology as “A Special Obligation”? Researching the Early Slavs in Communist Poland and East Germany 107
- Allies out of Ashes? Polish Ideas for the Refounding of Medieval Western Slavic States after 1945 131
- Roman Heritage in Hungary: The Case of the Fertőrákos Mithraeum on the Iron Curtain 157
- ‘Eurasian Magyars’: The Making of a New Hegemonic National Prehistory in Illiberal Hungary 181
- Beyond Radical Right Politics: LGBTQ+ Rights in Hungary and Romania 217
- The Protochronistic Depiction of the Transylvanian Saxons in Nicolae Ceaușescu’s History Textbooks (1976–1989) 241
- Dacian Blood: Autochthonous Discourse in Romania during the Interwar Period 257
- Why Nationalism Survives in Romanian Archaeology and What Could Limit its Impact 287
- Archaeology and the Challenge of Continuity: East-Central Europe during the Age of Migrations 307
- Index 347
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- List of Contributors IX
- Digging Politics: The Ancient Past and Contested Present 1
- Balkan Antiquity as Decolonial Eurocentrism During the Cold War 17
- Thracian Archaeology and National Identity in Communist Bulgaria: The Ideological Pattern of Museum Exhibitions 45
- Imagining King’s Landing: Dubrovnik, the Diegetic Heritage of Game of Thrones, and the Imperialism of Popular Culture 77
- Slavic Archaeology as “A Special Obligation”? Researching the Early Slavs in Communist Poland and East Germany 107
- Allies out of Ashes? Polish Ideas for the Refounding of Medieval Western Slavic States after 1945 131
- Roman Heritage in Hungary: The Case of the Fertőrákos Mithraeum on the Iron Curtain 157
- ‘Eurasian Magyars’: The Making of a New Hegemonic National Prehistory in Illiberal Hungary 181
- Beyond Radical Right Politics: LGBTQ+ Rights in Hungary and Romania 217
- The Protochronistic Depiction of the Transylvanian Saxons in Nicolae Ceaușescu’s History Textbooks (1976–1989) 241
- Dacian Blood: Autochthonous Discourse in Romania during the Interwar Period 257
- Why Nationalism Survives in Romanian Archaeology and What Could Limit its Impact 287
- Archaeology and the Challenge of Continuity: East-Central Europe during the Age of Migrations 307
- Index 347
