Akadémia Kiadó

Landscape, People, History I.2.

Hungarian ethnography I.

The present book about the historical modification and periods of Hungarian popular culture has no direct antecedents. The objective of the authors is to give an historical overview about the various characteristics of the prosperity and decline of cultural elements transmitted from generation to generation. The authors follow the paths of cultural goods beginning from the early antecedents through the establishment of state and conversion to Christianity via the development in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern era to the end of the period of classic capitalism at the middle of the 20^th century.

The volume presents the ever-changing character of popular culture evoking the cultural image of four major periods, including innovations as well as objects and words dated and left behind, meanwhile it takes into consideration the creative coexistence of Eastern heritage and European culture, paying attention to the ever-lasting importance of elements and systems having remarkable stability. The structure of the volume reflects and follows the thematic priorities of ethnography, in this way it investigates the organisation of society, characterises the historical development of large units of material culture (farming, handicraft and walk of life) and folklore (folk poetry, folk music, folk dance), including the enrichment of folk art, the impact of the major European artistic tendencies, the historical formation of folk customs and the persistent survival of folk beliefs.

The historical “reconstruction” of popular culture spanning over periods may be instructive for the majority of historical disciplines (historical linguistics, history of technologies, social and cultural history) and for all readers interested in the past of Hungarian people. It is illustrated with 26 maps, 99 figures, 138 black and white and 86 coloured photos.