The Ferry-Country between East and West: Debates on Modernity and Europe in Hungary

The debates on Hungary’s role and position in Europe began with the nation-state building process in the 19th century, and — with varying degrees of intensity — continued throughout the 20th century. The overwhelming majority of these debates had a ‘top-down’ approach — with strong normative expectations and with clear and often explicitly outlined ideological-political commitments and legacies. From the outset, these debates were inseparably intertwined with the debates on the modernisation of the country. The positions taken on the focal subject of these controversies — the position of Hungary on a symbolic map of Europe — expressed the views of the participants on the debates about desirability and feasibility of the modernisation of the country, and about the possible and acceptable ways of changing the country’s face from ‘traditional’ to ‘modern’. Therefore, in this chapter, the two major topics of our project — views on European identity and modernisation — will appear interconnected.