Situational Picture on the Roma of Two Segregated Settlements
The development of Central and Eastern European cities significantly differ from that of the Western European ones. Roma communities have long been an integral part of Slovak cities, but the degree and quality of their integration vary depending on the given city. In Slovakia, approximately half of the Roma have to some extent been able to adapt themselves to the majority society. These Roma live in the cities integrated with the local population. The other part of the Roma minority though lives isolated in some parts of the cities, on their edge or besides them. These communities are characterized by social and ethnic isolation, which may differ in individual cases. The Roma communities have established so-called urban ghettos, which are, compared to the city as a whole, less integrated. Among those living in ghettos, there is typically a high rate of unemployment, cultural segregation, exclusion from the official city life, deepening social isolation related to rejection on part of the mainstream society.
The Symbol of Civil Autonomy and Patronage: The City Museum of Pressburg (1868–1918)
There are stories forgotten and lost from collective consciousness. A sterling example of this is one of the oldest museums in Hungary´s history, the City Museum of Pressburg (Pozsony, Prešporok, today Bratislava) founded in 1868. There have been many authors, especially Slovak museologists, endeavouring to write the history of this museum. But their attempts, because of the disappearance of the German and Hungarian cultural and language codes, and also due to the Slovak nation-building program, have turned out to be rather ambiguous. This study also offers an analysis of the negative aspects of the Slovak publications, and it presents theses dedicated to the service of politics of memory. On the other side, it also pays attention to the paradigm shift of Slovak museology performing numerous positive signals after 1989. On the basis of the so far fundamentally overlooked archival materials held in Bratislava and Budapest, the author also analyses the motivating factors and circumstances of the museum´s foundation, its development in the era of dualism, and its relationship with the State General Inspectorate of Museums and Libraries. He also pays attention to the operation of its custodians (József Könyöki, Ágost Helmár) and their concepts of institution-building and collection enlargement.
Notes on the Book about Géza Grosschmid
This paper is devoted to the writings and speeches of a Hungarian Christian Socialist politician in Slovakia, Senator Géza Grosschmid (1872–1934). The recently published volume mainly contents applicable news coverage of contemporary newspapers, first of all that of the Hungarian-language Prague daily, the Prágai Magyar Hírlap. By examining the press background, the paper as central question raises the issue of the senator´s retreatment and the possible causes of his relocation to Hungary.
War and Trauma. The Eastern-Ukrainian Front in the Recollections of Transcarpathian Soldiers
This paper covers reminiscences of mobilised and volunteer soldiers of Transcarpathia on the period they spent in the Eastern-Ukrainian war through narratives and theme-centred interviews. The participants of the research were three volunteer and seven mobilised soldiers previously participating in a compulsory military service. In the case of two volunteers, the main motivations were the establishment of Ukraine opening toward the West and fully independent from Russia which must therefore be protected, and the sense of usefulness; the third volunteer reported as motivation his particular interest in military at an early age, which he considered appropriate to explore in the war. As regards to the lessons learnt from the interviews, it can be concluded that, besides the severe economic and infrastructure damages perceived by the entire population, the greatest victims of the military conflict were the local inhabitants and the soldiers defending Ukraine. According to the interviewees´ statements, Ukraine had not been prepared for the war in any respect, and they were those who had faced the consequences first hand. Six out of the ten interviewees reported posttraumatic stress symptoms, which, although over time to a lesser extent, but are still very much present. In the trauma processing period, family´s help was given a prominent position in four cases. As the interviewees see it, they would have also needed professional (a psychologist´s) help in the treatment of the posttraumatic stress, but it has not been provided them by the state.
The Praxeology of the Pop Culture Research. An Outline of a Hybrid Theory
This study is devoted to the possibilities of the pop culture research after the media theories of the 20th century. It proposes a praxeology working with a dynamic concept of pop culture, and puts emphasis on increasing complexity. The line of reasoning also notes the role of alternative canons, the distinction between pop culture and mass culture, and the consequences of posthermeneutical practices. Theoretical combinatorics does not give preference to any preliminary theory, it considers each as a research practice. It can also be conceived as an experiment opening the way for metacritical case studies.
